Speyside 100

 After Claire's fantastic run in the EBB last year she was keen to follow up with this year's LDWA 100. I didn't manage to do a hundred last year so I was keen too, so we got our entry in straight away. Like many others we were delighted with the idea of a route in the Scottish mountains.

Claire has, as I've noted elsewhere lately, been struggling with a seemingly endless series of minor injuries that are mostly attributable to menopause symptoms. Many women encountering the obstacles to running that the menopause brings simply give up, but Claire is a bit more stubborn than that. Nevertheless, we went into the Speyside with Claire on less than sparkling running form.

In the run up, there was a lot of worry about ticks and midges. The tick worries in particular hadn't really been talked about much before, and the recommendation to wear long trousers was a bit of a concern for us. We ended up tinkering with various different options, settling on very lightweight Patagonia jogging bottoms that I've worn for a couple of years as a nicer alternative to Ron Hills.

Driving up from Calderdale to Inverness on the friday took us about 7 hours, from a gentle 10am start. We got some fish and chips in the village chippy at Milton and took them back to our b&b,

Friday night we didn't sleep well. Claire barely slept at all. I got some, but rather restless. This wasn't an ideal start, but there wasn't much we could do about it.

We got up to Boat of Garten around 10.30, had a bit of trouble finding the HQ as there was no event signage but eventually located the car park and got parked up. Shifted food from the van fridge into our packs and breakfast bags, slathered ourselves in skinsosoft, smidge and P20 and went in to registration.

Registration only took a few minutes, the 12 o'clock start was extremely quiet, and we sat around drinking tea and chatting to Claire's friend Garth who was also on the 12 start. Just before we set off I spotted Matt Hutchinson. We didn't see Matt again until Recletich.

A few bits of event briefing, then the piper played and we headed out into the woods. Claire and I were near the back with Simon Pipe, who was talking to the photographer. Once people started to spread out we started running a bit and left Simon behind.

The first section through the ancient woodland to Nethy Bridge was absolutely delightful. It was pleasantly warm and there was birdsong all around us. We were deliberately holding the speed down to start gently and enjoying a comfortable pace.

At Nethy Bridge we grabbed a cup of tea and kept going, onto the start of the dismantled railway. At this point that didn't seem ominous. It was a rather pleasant path, which we were sharing with the runners, walkers and cyclists of the Cairngorm to Coast charity event. Lots of cheerful walkers and cyclists came past along this stretch, and we were soon at Grantown on Spey. It was a bit of a trek through the village to the CP, where we picked up more tea and some snacks.

Back out of Grantown on Spey and up to the Dava way, which was... disused railway. We followed this for a few km before dropping down through the woods to a girder bridge and a road section to Cromdale.

At Cromdale we bumped into Kieran and Dianne, who had been on the 10am start. We chatted for a while as we ate and drank tea, lurking around the trays to wait for sandwiches coming out of the kitchen.

We got going again shortly, and headed out along the road towards the hills of Cromdale. We were passing lots of 10am starters from here on, particularly once we left the road and started on the steep climb.

Looking back down from the Cromdale climb

Reaching the col we were directed through a gate and down through some bog to the other side of the col. The bog wasn't too bad, but my feet got fairly wet. We knew this was coming though, and it was warm so my feet dried out pretty quick.

The drop down the other side was a rocky path - always a bit hard on wet feet, then we were down at Ballacorach CP, which was an outdoor CP in a car park. No tea here - they were running short of water and asking people to only take what they needed. I think they were probably overwhelmed by numbers, you'd expect the crowd to have thinned out by this point, but if a lot had started on the 10am that should have been on the 12 that might have caused a big rush.

I munched my way through some falafels while Claire went to the loos, then we carried on up the road to the next climb through the woods. This was very pleasant, and led onto a flattish track which then became a forestry track down to the road. We rejoined the road at Glenconglas then left it again to drop down to a river crossing and back up a path into Tomintoul.

Approaching the summit of Dave

At Tomintoul we had kit check bingo. A ping pong ball marked "head torch" came out of the box and we dug in packs to locate them.

Tim Rollett was on clipper duty just inside the door and greeted us cheerfully. We sat for a little while here changing socks and eating pizza. I had some custard too, which was delicious. We took a 2nd (3rd?) cup of tea with us and set out again, cheering on the first 2pm starter (and eventually first home in roughly 21 hours).

Backtracking across the river and climbing back up to the road, we were passed by Phil Withnall & Claire Nance coming the other way. They'd set out on the 2pm start and were making strong progress.

Once we reached the road we backtracked to the turn off and started up onto Carn Daimh (pronounced "Carn Day-iv," although the dipthong just sounds like "Dave"). This was a lovely section, mostly dry, and the sun was setting as we reached the summit. We dropped down the other side on a rocky path that flattened out and I stopped to put on a warmer layer and eat a food bar.

After a little while on the flat we dropped onto a road and passed through the wonderful smells of the Glenlivet distillery, before reaching the CP by the river. Garth was here just ahead of us, and we chatted over some food and a cup of tea. I had some really rather nice soup (made up from powder I think, but still tasty) with no ill effects, then off we went with our cups of tea into the night.

This was the start of a long, long road section. Apart from a short stretch of forestry track it was road all the way to the next CP. While it was hard on the feet, it did give us chance to crack along and that we did, pulling our average pace down quite a bit.

At Recletich the CP was in a barn in the farm yard. Something had clearly gone wrong here. The volunteers were really subdued, there was little in the way of food, no hot drinks and a very strange smell. After the enthusiastic billing the "continental breakfast" had in the run up, there was clearly something awry. We had yoghurts and questionable croissants and chatted with Matt Hutchinson who was waiting for transport. He'd got badly cold and was pacing back and forth to warm up. It was his first ever DNF in the many events he's done, and I really wanted to say something helpful but wasn't sure what.

We didn't hang about too long and made tracks for Dufftown.

The road section here led up to a minor side road, that then became a forestry track. Lots of camper vans parked at the side of the road must have wondered what was going on as a stream of head torches passed them.

In the woods we climbed up the track, then took a wrong turn at an ambiguous point. I was keeping an eye on the GPS and spotted it immediately. We called back the people in front (I think it was Phil and Claire) and got back on the right track, where Phil and Claire passed us within a few minutes, moving strongly on the muddy path.

An interminable (but actually only a few km) brash and rock strewn track led us down into Dufftown. The sky was starting to lighten as we arrived and were directed to the back of the building. The constraints of this building made things rather difficult. We went into a room and picked up our breakfast bags. There was some space to sit, and a couple of first aiders helping with foot care, but not much room for other things that we needed to do at breakfast (like changing clothes). The changing room was tiny and had a sign saying "one person only", so I changed and brushed my teeth as quick as I could.

A castle. Near Dufftown. We may have mentioned Homer Simpson

We sat while one of the first aiders padded a blister that had come up on Claire's heel. There were footbaths going on, which sounded like they were going well but I'd been concentrating on keeping my feet dry, so this didn't really appeal. I did have a chuckle at the footbath containers though - cat litter trays. Very practical.

We handed in our breakfast bags and returned to the front of the building to get some food. This didn't go well.

I went to the kiosk and got teas for us, then we had some cornflakes (that was a mistake for me I think). People were being asked what they wanted and brought food but no one was asking us. It seemed like they were too short handed to be able to track what was going on, and we went quite a long time before we could get anyone to help us.

We finally managed to attract the attention of one of the volunteers who was dealing with food. Several groups had arrived, eaten and left while this was going on. I had a few bits of fried breakfast but, tired and hypoglycaemic, didn't really communicate what I wanted very well so didn't end up eating much. Meanwhile the cornflakes hit my system and my blood sugar flopped. I curled up on the floor for a few minutes until I felt capable of moving, then stubbornly got going. I just wanted out of there. 

Once we got clear of Dufftown I started to perk up, and at first the flat disused railway seemed like an opportunity. We ran quite a bit and made up quite a lot of time, but Claire's feet and knees were starting to be a problem. 

Our original plan had been to stick together for at least a couple of hours to keep me from rushing off like an idiot and burning out. Claire wasn't expecting to be as fast as me, and I had in my mind to at least get under 30 hours. As it turned out Claire moved faster than expected for the first half, I wouldn't have gone any quicker and by the time we were well into the night I'd decided I was enjoying myself too much to want to go off on my own. We work together well on long events - we always have something to talk about and silly jokes to share, and can go long periods just listening to the birds without saying anything much. Claire wasn't feeling so great by this point and I'd decided during the night that this was an event to share anyway, so we stuck together.

By the time we reached Charlestown of Abelour we were starting to really dislike the disused railway. This was a shame, because we had about another 50km of it. Charlestown CP was a welcome break, we had a cup of tea and some crisps and nibbles.

Back onto the infernal disused railway for another 10km. We were at that stage where people settle into a pace, and although we were still overtaking a few we were seeing the same people more often (and seeing Garth at almost every CP).

At Advie we left the disused railway and climbed up to the CP. A very quick kit check - reflectives for Claire (the UD FastPacks are VERY reflective) and "water container" for me, which was right next to my jaw.

This was a particularly lovely checkpoint - we were made very welcome, fed and congratulated and left feeling very much better.

Leaving Advie in the rain

The rain started just as we left, but we were into the woods so it didn't matter too much. The rocky forestry path was uncomfortable going though, and hard on Claire's blisters.

From Knockfrink to Milton was the notorious section with chain gates, narrow barbed wire paths and rocks underfoot. Everyone slowed down here and it got bottlenecked. It all seemed a bit unnecessary and left me wondering whether the landowner had just been a bit of an arse about the public footpath.

We were a bit confused at Cromdale as we'd got the location mixed up in our minds with Grantown. We found the CP OK though. Claire was really struggling mentally and physically. One of the volunteers gave her a very helpful pep talk, and I taped up her blisters.

And on we went to Grantown on Spey. Fish finger sandwiches are a real treat, and made me very happy. As we left the CP we encountered an elderly couple on the pavement:

"you go ahead, you'll be much quicker than us"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that"

"Oh, have you been on a long walk?"

"...........yes. Yes we have."

Once we got into the woods Claire really needed something done with the blisters on the balls of her feet, so out came the gaffa tape again. This done, we were able to crack on to Nethy Bridge fairly well on the last section of disused railway, where we were greeted by Merrian & Dave (but no Jack sadly). I munched on some malt loaf, we picked up a cup of tea, and off we went.

Jack Cooper's handiwork at Ne(ss)thy Bridge

10km to go, and arguably the nicest 10km of the route, albeit we'd already done it once.

We walked quickly through the woods listening to the birdsong (so quickly in fact that we were doing sub 8 min/km). Sleep deprivation and exhaustion was starting to do the inevitable and Claire was seeing beavers in the tree stumps. I wasn't quite so tired but did have the distorting effects of my sports glasses, and I was starting to catch the odd green sheep in the corner of my eye which turned into a mossy hummock when I looked at it straight on. At a glance the wings of the eagle on the campsite sign looked more like rabbit ears which started me rambling about fibreglass animals. We definitely needed to stop.

Soon we were passing the Boat hotel and the GPS was telling us there was only 600m to go. It was a very long 600m, but finally we were welcomed into the finish with the ringing of the bell.

Once through the door we encountered a problem. I surrendered my tracker and dug the timing chip out of my bag. The volunteer who collected them was asking Claire for her red timing chip, and she was completely flummoxed and upset because she had no idea what he was on about. It transpired there had been a problem at registration and not everyone had been issued a timing chip, but seemingly no one had told the guy who was pressing Claire to find hers. We had kit out on the floor trying to find it, every dry bag emptied, and no sign. Eventually someone conceded that perhaps she'd never been issued one and we were able to repack and take a breath.

At this point I needed to eat. I went into the food hall to be told that the haggis wasn't currently available, and all there was available was pasta and ratatouille. Obviously pasta makes me very ill, so that wasn't an option, and ratatouille with or without cheese really didn't sound appealing. Just then I started to feel faint and once again had to lie down. I found a corner and hit the deck, while someone went and found Claire to let her know where I was.

This passed within a few minutes as it always does, and we were feeling a bit jaded and overwhelmed by the noise of the finish, so just picked up our badges and certificates and headed for the hotel, via the camper to pick up a change of clothes (and a few midge bites - the car park field was the midgiest place on the entire event).

We had lots of savoury snacks in the van fridge, so we gathered them up and limped our way 600m to the hotel. Claire was really struggling so I went on ahead to check us in. By the time she arrived we were able to go straight up (2 flights of stairs!) to our room where we had a few nibbles and a cup of tea, a quick shower, then fell asleep for 9 hours.

Claire had an amazing first 100 on the EBB where everything went perfectly. The Speyside was harder for her - she wasn't in as good shape physically and blisters caused her some misery. For my part I felt more on top of things than I have in my previous 2 hundreds. That was partly because I was thinking about Claire's wellbeing - I'm better off with someone else to look after - but also pacing, fitness and food worked better from more experience.

We talked about the route, and tried to figure out the differences between the original proposed route and the amended one. It did look as if the changes weren't that huge, and the provisional route must have included a lot of the road and disused railway sections. This was something we've seen in Ireland and NI as well - land that has been historically given over to huge estates doesn't tend to have distinct rights of way and established paths. Obviously in Scotland one now has the right to roam anywhere, but that doesn't lend itself to the Hundred - a hundred miles of Scottish bog would be truly hard work.

Within those constraints and those of the RSPB the organisers did a good job of making it possible to have the hundred in a beautiful area. The terrain was tough going for the wrong reasons (for us at least) and the Speyside Way itself isn't as inspiring as it should be - travelling alongside a beautiful river would be more fun if you could actually see it. A few organisational hiccups impacted us a bit. Nevertheless the Speyside 100 was a fantastic experience and one we'll treasure.

We didn't travel home until the tuesday, taking the Monday to visit the amazing Loch Garten RSPB reserve. Sadly the ospreys were hiding out of binocular range (and almost out of range of the nature centre's cameras), but we saw and heard lots of other birds and spent time in the lovely ancient forest. It's an area we'll visit again, but probably further south into the mountains.

Kit

• altra lone peaks
• altra gaiters
• raidlight t shirt
• patagonia terrebonne jogging bottoms
• drymax ultrathin crew length socks (long enough to tuck in)
• UD Fastpack 20
• montane cap
• Rab Ventus windproof - worked well.
• Garmin eTrex 20x
• Montane Element Stretch waterproof jacket
• Montane wind shirt
• decathlon waterproof trousers
• ti pan to eat out of on the move (never used)
• spork (likewise)
• small bottle of skinsosoft
• smidge
• midge head net
• Montane Ember primaloft
• buffalo mittens
• Ron Hill thin gloves
• SOL survival bag
• 2 spare batteries for GPS.
• First aid kit
• 3 buffs
• 2 spare pairs of socks
• penknife - used a lot for cutting gaffa tape. Would have been useful easier to hand.
• cash card
• antihistamines - didn't need but safest to carry at this time of year
• glasses - bulky, and mess with my eyes.
• Whitefurze screw top mug
• printed RD & maps in map case
• Silva Trail head torch
• ZL H30 spare torch
• tick pen (with tape round the barrel to trap the little bastards on if I got any)
• lip balm

Food carried

• 2 veggie jamaican patties
• 4 protein bars 
• 6 linda mccartney sausages (ate 5)
• cheese
• chocolate
• malt loaf (ate half)

CP Food

• A few crisps, not many
• ginger biscuit at first CP
• a couple of tuna sandwiches at Cromdale on the way out. Maybe a cheese sandwich too.
• a veggie sausage, hash brown and fried egg
• a bowl of cornflakes (possibly triggered the shivers, best to avoid)
• veggie soup (no ill effects, although similar soup made me ill on the Bullock one year)
• Macaroni cheese (heaven)
• rice pudding (also heaven)
• custard
• lots of pizza
• malt loaf
• a few tiny bits of cake
• half a dozen jaffa cakes
• falafels
• ropey plastic croissant
• cherry yoghurt (definitely a fail)
• some mini cheddars
• bean stew at Cromdale
• fish finger sandwich
• lots and lots of tea (every CP but 2)
• lots and lots of water (almost every CP)

Breakfast bag

• Malt loaf (left it in the bag)
• 2 veggie jamaican patties (took, ate one)
• 6 veggie sausages (left in the bag)
• 3 protein bars (took, ate all)
• Raidlight long sleeved t shirt (mistake, meant to put a choice of short or long in)
• 2nd pair jogging bottoms
• 2 pairs socks
• walking poles (left them in the bag)
• toothbrush and toothpaste, and deodorant
• spare GPS batteries (not needed)
• Head strap for 2nd torch

What went well/badly

• the rucksack chafed the small of my back badly. Not sure what to do about that. The orange UD back doesn't do that so maybe use that instead.
• Setting off really slowly but maintaining a planned pace worked well
• there was a particular walking gait we adopted towards the end that was very fast. Inspired by some of what Nicky Spinks and Jasmine Paris have talked about
• Sainsbury's jamaican vegetable patties, couple of those were delicious
• Smidge. Bloody amazing stuff
• Didn't need the primaloft but wouldn't have been without it
• Didn't need the windshirt but it weighs basically nothing
• Didn't use the ti pan as we stayed in CPs to eat, but would take it again anyway
• Got a lot of heat rash on my legs from gaiters, long socks and long leggings, but no ticks
• Everything looks WEIRD through those glasses, and that messes with my head as it gets late and I get sleep deprived. Need better glasses.
• No blisters, bit of mild maceration from wet feet. Nothing serious. Changed socks 3 times in total I think
• Having "distance to next CP" on my GPS was fantastic. It didn't work so well on Claire's though, and I don't understand why not.
• The screw top mug is OK, good for shoving an over-hot cuppa in the bag until it cools down. It's a bugger to drink from on the move though, a sip cup would be better if the tea is actually drinkable at the time. Fellsman - screw top. LDWA 100 - sip cup.