Ally K's Long Run

At last! Ally’s Long Run was going ahead after being postponed from last year. His challenge raising funds for the Highland Hospice and his route would be starting in Milngavie, going up the West Highland Way to Fort William, followed by the Great Glen Way to Fort Augustus then moving on to the road and the Loch Ness Marathon route, finishing at the Hospice which is situated in the final half mile of the marathon, estimated at 180 miles and giving himself 70 hours to complete it.  

Logistics meant Ken took his car up to Inverness full of all our adventure supplies on Tuesday, he was leaving his car there for coming home afterwards. The rest of the Fifers, Pauline, Sue and myself caught the bus to Milngavie Wednesday afternoon to meet with the rest of the team. 

Douglas - Driving the safety vehicle making sure we all got to Inverness without being roadkill.

Graham - Keeping Ally going with physio and food.

Ken - Joining Graham in his van to look after Ally. 

Donna - A gold medalist in the multi-tasking category, driving the big team van with all our kit, keeping us all fed and watered plus updating social media. 

Andy, Sue and myself - Pacers, keeping Ally company and moving forward.

Pauline - Still recovering from the brain hemorrhage she had at the end of March wasn’t going to do much in the way of running but would be Donna’s lovely assistant in the chuck wagon. 

Also Lewis, Ally and Donna’s son, he was there for the banter, and to eat the abundant supply of doughnuts and pot noodles. 

John and Helen were joining us at Tyndrum

After we had a meal, it was time to get ready for the 10.00pm start, friends and family were gathering, and an unexpected surprise for Ally, his brother and sister living in Northumberland had driven up to see him off. 

Ally was having two runners with him for the first night, Sue was running the first 12 mile section to Drymen then Andy was taking over, also Robbie, a Calmac colleague and speedy runner averaging just over 18 hours over four West Highland Way races slowed his normal pace to accompany Ally from the start to Rowardennan. 

Coming into Drymen

I called shotgun for the loch side. It's one of my favourite sections on the West Highland Way, it’s quite technical and slow going, a lot of runners don’t like it, I think because they are not banging out their average race pace, but you just have to embrace it, all the wee clambers, big steps and wee shuffles give your running legs a rest, and you can expect an occasional 20 minute mile! I’d call that pretty good going! Also, having done a lot of races on the WHW I think I know the best line to take over the rough ground and would lead Ally safely over the scramby bits. 

Graham and Ken drove along to Rowerdennan to drop me off and pick up Robbie, the rest of the team left Balmaha to go straight to Inverarnan and take the chance of a decent rest, Ally and I won’t see them for over five hours. It was around 6.00am when we left Rowardennan, the weather was dull with a little light rain but pretty good conditions. The undergrowth was thick and bushy, the spiders must have been busy through the night, their threads strung across the path tickling my face. It was happening constantly, that it was starting to give me the heeby-jeebies. 

I thought the bracken was tall here...wait until the climb to Dario's post!

We were making good progress, moving fine and steady, taking it cautiously over the tricky bits, we paused briefly to refuel at Inversnaid before taking on the really tricky terrain along to the top of the loch,

there has been a fair bit of erosion since I was last along, when I dropped down a narrow gap between two boulders I’m sure the ground never used to be so far away, I jammed my bum between the boulders before hitting the ground, that’s never happened before! Ally leaned his poles against the boulder so he could use both hands to drop down, one of the poles slid off down the banking, luckily it stopped before hitting the water. Oh well, I suppose it’s part of my job to retrieve it. I managed to scramble down to it without too much difficulty and glad I didn’t end up in the loch either.

I have never seen the bracken so overgrown before, it enclosed the path and well over six foot tall in places, there was no running through it, I couldn’t see where I was putting my feet, just pushing our way through wishing I’d brought a machete,

Spot the Ally!

Ally was quite relieved when we reached the flat grassy bit and we could have a few wee shuffles to remind the legs how to run. As we approached the climb up to Dario’s post I pushed on a wee bit to get the hip-flask out, it’s a special spot to pause for reflection.

Beinglas isn’t far away now, around half an hour and we’ll be back with the team. As we got closer I pushed on to herald Ally’s arrival, hopefully he enjoyed a wee seat, a chicken roll and a mug of tea.

Sue was now with Ally after his brief stop and would see him into Auchtertyre, this section isn’t much easier, you can get some steady running in between a few long climbs  as long as you watch your feet and once into the forest above Crianlarich, known in the WHW family as the rollercoaster, and for good reason, there’s long steep swoops up and down until you cross the A82 and onto tarmac leading to Auchtertyre. 

Andy took over from Sue leading the trek through Tyndrum and the open path where you can see the long ribbon of the track stretching ahead with Ben Dorain standing aloof and majestic as you pass by. 

From Bridge of Orchy, Douglas gave his legs a stretch and went over the hill and down into Inveroran with Ally, great to see him have a bit of time with Ally without having to be the responsible adult in charge. 

Nadia and Ewen from the Inveroran Hotel were marvelous in supporting Ally, hosting a barbeque in his honour and raising over £750 for the Highland Hospice, also giving the team a good feed before heading into the second night. 

photo credit - Inveroran Hotel

photo credit - Inveroran Hotel

It was my turn again to keep Ally company over Rannoch Moor, I’d had a lie down in the back of the van, I can’t say I slept and was cold and dozy when I surfaced, but I’d been resting and I knew I would perk up and warm up once I got moving. Ally and I left the hotel around 9.00pm easing back into our stride, it’s a long steady climb onto the Moor, the sky was overcast, we plodded on while we still had some light but it wasn’t long until darkness fell, with the heavy cloud there wasn’t going to be any stars to guide us, no mountains in silhouette to mark our progress, just our head torches shining a circle of light on front of us, this was the start of Ally’s second night and he’d been moving forward for over twenty-four hours so I expected him to have a dip, and he did, he was using having a drink or a wee nibble as an excuse to stop, I didn’t bully him to keep moving but I did my best to prevent his stalling, “I’ll hold your poles while you’re getting your stuff, just keep it at a stroll while your faffing!” I know the West Highland Way well but I’ve never gone over Rannoch Moor in the pitch black, normally I’d look up into the distance for Peter Fleming’s Memorial Cairn and aim for it, it was just our legs letting us know we were on the climb up to it, it’s a very long slog and we just worked away at it, I was surprised when my legs were telling my weren’t climbing any more, we had topped out, I looked ahead for Buachaille Etive Mòr, it’s iconic shape was lost in the dark, but I could see the tiny lights in the distance of the Kingshouse Hotel. “Yes! We are heading down to Glencoe!” I shouted. Finally, we could see where we were aiming, it’s a rough bouldery descent so gently does it. I didn’t have to message ahead, my phone pinged and in our group chat, “I can see torches!”  Ally’s soup would be ready and waiting for him when we arrived and he was stopping for a well deserved 20 minute sleep. 

I was relieved and pleased when John and Helen offered to help us after they knew of Pauline’s  illness, both very experienced ultra runners joining us at Tyndrum with the luxury of proper night’s sleep for the first night so it made sense for John to escort Ally over the Devil’s Staircase in the wee hours, he also brought out a hip-flask at the cairn for a wee celebration at the top.

(A wee disclaimer here, this story is my recollection of events, the first duty of a support runner is to take care of themselves, I’d be no use to Ally if I wasn’t rested between my running shifts so at Glencoe I crashed out in the back of Douglas’s car only to be disturbed when Sue got out at Kinlochleven for her turn to run with Ally, saying “Get your feet up and use the whole back seat to lie down.” So if I’ve made any mistakes you’ll understand why I wasn’t paying too much attention to what was happening all the time) 

Sue had the short straw in support, the climb out of Kinlochleven, it’s steeper and longer than the Devil’s Staircase but doesn’t have a scary name to psych you out, it’s a tough slog even with legs that haven’t already covered 80 hard miles, Sue was staying with Ally along Lairig Mor, through Lundavra and into Fort William.

Friday morning saw Andy and Douglas heading to Morrisons for a full breakfast, Ken and Graham were heading up the single track road to Lundavra, I thought I’d go with them and maybe join Ally and Sue there if he was struggling, I’ll nip to the van for my running bag, “Err, where’s Donna?” I ask. Donna, Pauline and Lewis stayed in Kinlochleven to get the airbeds out and have a decent rest through the night, and weren’t planning to come to Fort William until Ally was due to arrive. Oops, I hadn’t thought ahead when I got into the car at Glencoe but never mind I’ll go along anyway. We arrived at Lundavra just a few minutes before Ally and Sue, it was a new day and a new Ally, he’d been motoring along, I need not have worried!

Lundavra - photo credit - Ally K's Long Run

We headed back to Fort William, Donna arrived and I readied myself for the next section along the canal. I had a porridge pot for breakfast and changed from trail shoes to road shoes since the terrain was going to be easier going underfoot.  

There was quite a welcome for Ally as he arrived at the old traditional finish of the West Highland Way.

Part one of his challenge completed, he had another 20 minute sleep, Graham worked on his legs, Donna updated Ally with messages of support, one, a wee video from friends “Glad you’re not dead!” He had some soup and freshened up, before setting off on part two, the Great Glen Way. The Caledonian Canal stretches on, as much as it’s awfy bonnie, it’s long and flat with nothing technical to take your mind off how you’re feeling, after the high of finishing the West Highland Way, I wasn’t surprised Ally had another wee low, he apologised for not being good company, typical Ally, thinking of others first, I didn’t doubt he’d pick up again, no point fighting the dip, we just eased along, he now had over one hundred miles in his legs, but I did have a distraction technique up my sleeve, I brought my camera out, told him to run... and to smile while he’s at it! 

At Gairlochy his smile broadened, Ryan, who's supported Ally during his past two challenges was waiting with Shaun to wish him well.

photo credit - Ally K's Long Run

Andy was taking over here and at Laggan Locks Helen joined them, time to double up support again as Ally would be heading into his third night on the move. The rest of us went onto Aberchalder, the sky was quite dull and it didn’t take long for the gloaming to turn to darkness,

Ken walked out to meet them, there was no hanging around when he arrived, just a quick coffee and a roll and John set off with Ally for his second night shift also Ally’s pal, Innis joined here to see him into Fort Augustus.

Sue and I were going from Fort Augustus, but there was no rush when he arrived, Ally was having his third and final 20 minute sleep, Graham worked on his legs and he had more soup. We left around 1.30am, 50 hours and around 130 miles done, again we eased into the pace, walking it out and running a few short shuffles to wake up the legs, we were now on the road heading up towards the Loch Ness Marathon route, if you have ever been on one of the buses that’s laboured up the monster of a hill out of Fort Augustus to the start of the Marathon and was anxious that it wasn’t going to make it up, we strided up that hill at a fair lick! Although Ally was tired, he was strong and heading towards his final marathon. At the top the mist had descended and soon turned into cold rain, the van’s headlights couldn’t penetrate it, my shadow standing in front of me reflected off the murk.

Sue and I kept ourselves awake and cheery playing word games like we did when we were wee on long car journeys. One of them, we worked our way through the alphabet naming songs with a place in the lyrics or title, Is this the way to Amarillo, was the first one, we sang a few too, Ally didn’t join in much, he often had his earphones in, our singing wasn’t that bad! Well, mine was but Sue can hold a tune! There were a lot of big frogs on the road, we were accused of booting them into the verge, but we were just gently nudging  them off the road with a shoe, not wanting them to be flattened by the van behind us. On the road there was an opportunity for support to swap every five miles or so but both Sue and I agreed that since we were already outside and wet we might as well keep going for a bit longer. Donna and Pauline were preparing a couple of cups of hot chocolate for us, I waited at the van to pick them up, Ally and Sue kept moving, when they were ready Pauline suggested I jump in the van to catch them up, I was pretty cold so I declined the offer and would put in a wee effort getting back to them to warm me up. Since running Fastest Known Times has been the lock-down fashion for runners, I’m claiming an FKT for 400 metres on the Loch Ness Marathon route in the dark, piddling rain carrying two cups of hot chocolate without spilling them!  Ally was very quiet, but as long as we could hear his poles tip-tapping on the road behind us we knew he was doing fine, with his focus on the few steps ahead and hauling it in. 

We pulled into Foyers around 6.00am, now daylight on the fourth day, the rain was starting to ease slightly, Ally wanted Pauline to come with him and she did, managing around three miles together, a cherished moment for them both,

photo credit - Ally K's Long Run

Helen and John took a turn each and a posse of pals were forming to escort Ally into Inverness. After changing into dry clothes I jumped into the front of the van with Donna, now sitting warm and cosy, my head was doing the noddy dog thing, I didn’t fight it but it felt rude to sleep while Donna was working hard leading the way, flashing lights on the van, warning oncoming traffic of our presence on the road and alerting the rest of the team with walkie talkies of their their approach. The stress was building with more traffic on the road. We had come all this way without incident and the team vehicles were doing a great job of keeping the runners safe, protecting them front and back with warning lights and carrying caution runner signs.   

We had a final stop in the car park at the end of Dores, I rejoined and was staying with Ally and the posse into Inverness, Douglas gave us a safety talk and insisted that if there was pavement we were to use it. Graham gave Ally’s legs a last going over ready for the final ten miles,

we soon got into a good routine, I’d pick a spot where to run and Ally would pick where to walk, staying in control of effort, I went into Mummy Goose mode, keeping an eye on my gaggle, ushering them over the road when moving onto the pavement and back between the team vehicles when it ran out.

We were making good progress and moving well, at a good, strong pace. Side by side Ally and I looked at each other, no words were needed, we have done it! Our emotion rose, I managed to keep it from leaking out my eyes but Ally used the front of his t-shirt. 

Robin had driven up from Perth and just planned to run a little bit with Ally, after a short distance he said “Ally, I’m holding you back, I’ll let you go on and I’ll see you at the end.” Ally was insistent “No, you’ve come all this way for me, we’ll go at your pace! 

This time my emotion did reach my eyes, and why we love him and support him so much, over 62 hours on his feet and he was happy to prolong his finish for Robin to be able to keep him company all the way into Inverness.

The support posse went over the foot-bridge near the Highland Hospice to join everyone waiting to cheer Ally in, while Ally continued along and round the road bridge of the Marathon route to finish with a strong sprint, Saltire soaring to a fantastic reception, and into the finish banner held by Eilidh and Lewis. A mayhem of bubbly and hugs before an interview for BBC Alba. I’m not sure many could remain standing after such an arduous achievement, never mind speak coherently enough to be on the telly! 

I’m glad I was able to play a small part in Ally’s Challenge, an astounding effort raising funds for a charity close to his heart, and what a heart he has, I don’t think he’ll mind me saying that he’s no natural athlete, just a very determined person dedicated to do his best for others.  As I write his Just Giving page is sitting just short of £21,000 + Gift Aid, a phenomenal amount especially in these times.  

Ally K's Long Run Just Giving page

This was his fourth and final epic challenge, his first one was Ally K Runs Skye for Cancer Research Uk in 2014, followed by Ally K Runs Skye to Maggie’s in 2016 for Maggie’s, then Ally K’s 10 Island Challenge for MacmIllan in 2018.  He dared to dream of raising £100,000 for charities that mean so much to him, and against the odds he has succeeded. Ally has said it wasn’t just him, he didn’t do it alone, he’s had a good team behind him, and if over any of his challenges you have donated a pound or two, you too are part of the team that has inspired him to give his all.  

We might have different parents but I am as extremely proud of him as if he really was my wee brother, Ally, you inspire me to be the best person I can. 

Ally has now officially hung up his running shoes for huge, epic fundraising events. I have two words to say on the matter. Aye, right!   

 

 

Just a training run!

When Alistair Macpherson said he was going to do one last big fundraising event Pauline and I were on board for support.  We’ve been there for his previous big challenges and we weren’t going to let him do the final one without us! This one is huge and a lot further than he has ever gone before,180 miles in 70 hours for Highland Hospice, going from Glasgow to Inverness on the West Highland Way, the Great Glen Way then onto the road at Fort Augustus using the Loch Ness Marathon route to finish at the Highland Hospice which is situated on the final stretch of the Loch Ness Marathon. 

There would be a wee change of tactics for this one, with it being so long Ally is going to factor in a few short sleeping breaks so I suggested we practice that in training and came up with the idea of splitting a 40 mile run into two. The South Loch Ness Trail is on his doorstep and we’ve never been on it so I thought it would be good to go somewhere new. Ally agreed it was a good plan and since we’d be running through the night during the event we should do that in training too.  I suggested we drive to Dores, park up, run the 10-ish miles back to his house in Inverness, have 40 winks then take another car to Fort Augustus and run the 30-ish miles to the car parked in Dores where we would leave some warm dry clothes and a wee snack then head back round the Loch and pick up the vehicle parked in Fort Augustus then back home.  

So with a plan in place Pauline and I drove up to Inverness on Friday afternoon. Now, Ally is well known for getting weather during his challenges and it looked like we would get some in training too, Storm Dennis was on his way and a yellow weather warning was in place for the weekend but if you’re Scottish that just means you wear yer big coat and mine is exactly that, one size bigger than my usual so there’s plenty room for layers, my arse is well covered and I can pull the sleeves down over my hands for extra cover, so let’s just get on with it.  

We chilled out for a few hours, discussing the logistics for Ally K’s Long Run, eating huge bowls of Macaroni Cheese before getting geared up and heading off. It was around a 15 minute drive to Dores, I only had to brake sharply once to avoid a deer!

We started our run around 10.15pm, Pauline had printed out the route info and it was well marked but with it being new to us and dark we were careful not to miss any marker posts.  At times it was heavy going under foot, wading through mud and flood, I’m sure it will be a pretty route in daylight. The rain had eased off and eventually stopped, the sky cleared and was full of stars, this was a surprise, we had expected to get drookit! So it was a pleasant 11 mile run back to Ally’s house, fairly dry (from the shins up) with no problems, part one done! 

Back at the house I had a cup of tea, a pot of instant porridge, a change of running gear then a lie down on the bed for around 40 minutes, another pot of porridge and cup of tea before Ally drove to Fort Augustus, which took just under an hour, so we eventually set off on part two of our run at 4.50am. 

The wind had picked up and was bitterly cold, at least with running north/east it would be behind us most of the time and in a few hours we’ll have daylight.

The path out of Fort Augustus seemed fairly new and flat, a nice gentle start but that didn’t last long, we were soon climbing and quite steeply, looking back down over the twinkling lights of the town was a pretty view, I don’t suppose many are daft enough to come up in the dark to see it!

Although we were attentive looking out for route markers we missed one going by Glendoe Hydro works, we were watching our feet on the steep icy road but it was no big blunder, we just came out on the B862 sooner than expected, we decided to stay on the road for a short stretch rather than go back up and retrace our steps, it wasn’t long until we were back on route and climbing up onto open moorland.

The higher we climbed the wind gathered strength buffeting us about, bringing a mix of rain,snow and hail to sting our cheeks. With the snow lying in thick patches it was tricky finding the path, and difficult placing our feet, sometimes the snow held firm and other times I sank deep up to my knees, as we reached the top of the “big white mountain” (that’s what we called it anyway), it was really more of a hill marked on the map as Suidhe viewpoint, it was still quite dark so there was not much of a view for us, we weren’t going to hang around waiting for one either!

 I’ve been up the Pentlands and the Lomonds when it’s been blowing a hoolie, even a bunch of us were out running during Hurricane Bawbag in 2011 (which killed my shed), this is the strongest wind I have ever attempted to run in, (there was very little running going on) Storm Dennis was giving us his best shot! I struggled to keep my feet, trying to stay sideways to the wind for the least resistance as possible, the peak on my Buff was flattened against the side of my face, the good news, at least it stopped the hail from stinging so much, the bad news, it also covered my right eye! I had the vision of a pirate and very little control of where I was going, so there was no surprise I got blown onto my backside, I wasn’t dismissing or underestimating the conditions, this could be serious if we weren’t careful but I laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it. I heard Pauline laughing too! It took a fair bit of time (just checking Strava), just under an hour to cover the highest and exposed two miles of the route! It was a relief when we headed down towards the relatively sheltered forest track where we could gather ourselves, get some food in and recover from the energy sapping battle we’ve just had. 

The weather never abated but least now in daylight and mostly at a lower level it didn’t seem too bad compared to what we had for the first third of the second part of our run, the rest of the route was a nice mix of forest track, woodland, minor road and farm land, a few wee water crossings which in better weather would be pretty insignificant.

We just kept a steady effort, letting the terrain dictate the pace, running where it was easy going and walking up the hills, one monster hill known locally as the Corkscrew road, a narrow track with a million hairpin bends that I imagine would fit well into a mountain stage of the Tour de France with close ups of grimacing, suffering cyclists. 

At around 30 miles at a junction on a minor road, there was a marker for the Trail of the Seven Lochs which shares some of the South Loch Ness Trail but no marker for our route, we had a wee dither deciding which way to take when we heard a shout!  Up the hill about a hundred yards away was a lone cottage and an old boy stood at the door waving to us. Pauline and I walked up to speak to him, before we could ask if he could confirm our direction, he shouted “ Come in, come in, I’m not coming out in this weather in my slippers, don’t mind the sheep, he thinks he’s a dog, and I have used him to herd cattle!” 

We protested saying “Oh no, we’re wet and muddy!” 

Again, he insisted we come in, “Don’t worry, I don’t do housework!” A wee shuffle of our feet on a doormat and into what must have started life as a kitchen, it had a sink, kettle and microwave, but now was a proper indoor man-shed, with a log pile that would see him into the summer, the table had a vice attached and covered in tools and stuff, so was every other surface.  He offered us tea, we politely refused, saying if we stopped we wouldn’t get going again, he went into great detail describing our route and where all the other paths go, I was getting a bit bamboozled with all the information but managed to retain the “Straight on here, then second left, there is a marker but it quite often gets knocked down!” I don’t suppose he gets many visitors and eventually I think we chatted long enough that it wouldn’t seem rude if we left. Heading out, he said “Wait a minute while I get my wellies on.” he walked us to his gate, feeding his sheep a bread roll as he went, stood and waved until we were out of sight. I gave him a final cheery wave and hoped we brightened up his day as he did mine.   

We were climbing once more and hopefully for the last time up the Fair Haired Lads Pass (a wee bit of Googling led me to a newspaper article that suggests it was named after an old man that had died crossing the hill on a stormy night) and at 333m above sea level, the second highest point on the South Loch Ness Trail. There would’ve been fine views over to Urquhart Castle and along the loch if the weather was better, we dropped down to the where the trail ran parallel to the road back to Dores. 

Those final miles were quite a slog but at no time did any of us feel like we were carcass hauling, we still bantered along.  Reflecting on the races I’ve done so far this year, covering 40 miles during the Falkirk 8 hour ultra with challenging underfoot conditions and 50 miles during the Tyndrum 12 hour in January never made me feeling as weary as I did heading towards Dores, testament to effort needed for what was “just a training run”  41 miles with over 4500 feet of climbing along with the lack of sleep, battling the conditions and the terrain all added up to a epic day and perfect practice for Ally going into his challenge in April. 

Looking back over my 34 years of running I can safely say this is one of the most challenging training runs I've ever had!

If you want to follow his progress during the challenge Ally will have a tracker, the link will be available from the event facebook page and if you'd like to support the charity here’s his Just Giving link.