Look forward to your report Tim. Well done, superb effort.

In 2007 I completed the 53 mile Highland Fling, and for my first real ultra was happy to finish. That time I didn’t know if I could even run that far or what food and drink suited me best and suffered a severe pain in my left knee which forced me to walk a few miles where I could have run. My 2007 time was 11.01.58, but I knew I could do better.

It was a beautiful morning and the first part of this years Highland Fling I spent simply enjoying running with seemingly no effort. Ultra running is very sociable affair, before and after the race but also during it. After the pack had settled you have chance to chat with fellow competitors which make the morning pass quickly. I reached Drymen in 1h 45m (12.6 miles).

From Drymen to Balmaha the route moves from lowland tussocks and roads to forest tracks and open hillside, concluding with Conic Hill. This is the biggest climb of the course but at this stage in the race, easily conquered. The views that open up across Loch Lomond and the Arrochar Alps are the most memorable of the race. I still felt comfortable at this stage, legs ticking over nicely, although the descent of Conic gave me a taste of the pain I would have to live with later. Reached Balmaha 3 hours exactly, 5 minutes up on my 2007 time.

The next section to Rowardennan is great fun. The WHW tracks twist and turn through the forest on the fringe of the loch and with enough strength to enjoy it found myself picking off a few places here. Unfortunately the risks of fatigue soon became clear as a short while before reaching Rowardennan we passed a lady who I think had tripped and possible banged her head. When we passed she was motionless on the ground and wrapped in a silver blanket with first aider and friends looking on. I hope she is ok. I was still going well at Rowardennan (~27 miles) with 4h 23m gone.

I had decided before the race that the next two checkpoints were critical for food and drinks and I had all my usual food (cheese and jam sandwich, gels, and jelly babies) as well as a few new ones (crisps, flumps, flapjacks and coke). I had 5/6 gels throughout the race and forced down a little bit of flapjack and a few jelly babies but the crisps and coke were my favourite, I didn’t touch the sandwich or flumps. I read afterward you’re meant to have 3 gels and hour. Bbaawwww. no thanks.

At Rowardennan Abdelhadi greeted me with great big slap on the back and plenty of encouraging words. He was waiting for his relay team (Footworks) who, incidentally,  finished an excellent 4th.

A mile or so before Inversaid the track falls apart and running is only possible in 30m bursts with a scramble over boulders and tree roots in between. A bit like a steeplechase in some ways. It was this section where I blew up last time and I was all too aware of the cramps rising each time I lifted my leg and a pain in my left knee making itself known. I made it to Beinglas in 7h 43m, just a little quicker than the average splits reported on John Kynaston’s blog (April 26th) for a 10.30 finish.

There’s less I want to say about about the last section after Beinglas. The terrain and scenery aren’t quite as absorbing as the bonny banks of Loch Lomond and my mind was turned to push myself on. Thankfully niggles in my knee didn’t reappear which allowed me to dragged myself the next 12 miles to the finish, walking the hills and taking longer to get started again each time.

The best sound I heard all day was the faint drone on the pipes marking the end, where soup, beer, tea and cakes awaited me. A good merry crowd cheered us in. My watch showed I had taken 40 minutes off my 2007 time. Get in! but as soon as I stopped I felt nauseous and stiff. It was good to see a friendly face at the end in Ken Stewart who was the official doctor at the finish, but with no immediate patients was making himself busy at the beer station. I had my soup and took a beer for later  but the soup came back up on the bus.

What a day. I would do it again but might wait several years again.

Thanks for all the Tweets and Facebook messages on the way. I didn't manage to read them all at the time but certainly enjoyed them afterwards.

Well done Tim, and a great race report.  Pauline and I discussed your achievement on our run.  I under estimated the toughness of the first half of West Highland Way - hillier than I thought and terrain much harder and un runable than the 2nd half.  We had the luxury of having more time to run it as we weren't racing, and longer breaks for proper food.  Knowing the route makes your time even more impressive.  You should have a go at the Devil O' The Highlands next year - happy to provide support!  Maybe I'll give the 'Fling' a go next year....