Devil of the Highlands Footrace by Ultra Runner Fran Jones!

Time: 10 hours 56 mins

327th overall

Alert: Long race report post. Please scroll by if not interested in running or me waffling on!!

I was always a little bit envious of the adventures that my Ultra running friends got up to. But, having broken my leg in 2015 whilst training for my first Ultra and having a fair bit of metalwork still in my leg, I always worried it might not be the best idea to push my luck but…I always wondered what if?!

Having got back to consistently running with Pentland Fun runners (PFR) and Monday run club (MRC) along with cross training with many bike rides and weight training, I felt my fitness and stamina had improved and I was mentally ready to try… and a messsge one Sunday evening from my friend Susie saying you’ve got 30 mins to sign up for ‘the Devil’ gave me no time to talk myself out of it!!

The Devil of the highlands is a 42 mile (68) kilometer trail run from Tyndrum to Fort William and is the second half of the famous West Highland Way, passing through Bridge of Orchy, Glencoe, Kinlochleven, Lundavra and on to Fort William.

The race starts at 06:00 and one of the hardest things was getting up at 02:00 to drive 2 hours to Tyndrum. I was very grateful to cadge a lift with Susie Turnbull, (thanks for driving Susie) Angus Robertson and Michelle Young, all seasoned Ultra runners.

Having checked the forecast (mixed bag of wind/rain/overcast) we knew it was going to be tough but nothing prepared us for the biblical weather, flooding and headwinds that the weather gods threw at us! Positives though, it kept us cool and thankfully the midgies stayed away.

It was funny to see us all trying to jump over puddles at the start to keep our feet dry but a few miles in we were all wading through the knee deep rivers using the cold water to numb hot feet and ankles.

As it was my first Ultra, Susie very kindly agreed to run with me and I made her promise to keep me going with her chat…which if you know Susie, not surprisingly, she did! So grateful for her advice to conserve energy and walk the hills and try run the downs and flat. But the last 6 miles I had to dig deep, I couldn’t reply to any of her chat and just had to concentrate on moving forward to the finish.

A beautiful route with majestic mountains, atmospheric Ranoch moor and the famous Glencoe. The trail at times was very stoney and tricky to run on… lost count of how many times I tripped or stumbled over a stone. A mixed bag of aptly named hills (jelly baby hill, Devils stair case, oomph, the hill out of Kinlochleven and Cow hill) and undulating paths. Navigating the puddles, streams and rivers made it slow going along with constant jackets on, jackets off due to the weather conditions. Kudos to Susie though for running most of it in a vest whilst I was in full winter gear Also, running with a backpack and carrying enough food to feed an army took its toll on my back!

My aim was to make the cut offs and obviously get to the end, the pressure eased once we got though each checkpoint with time to spare. Huge shout out to the volunteers, looking out our drop bags and filling up our water bottles and sending us on our way with loads of encouragement.

Seeing Friends, Sandra and Lorna at the top of The Devils stair case was a boost along with Michael Philp photography and getting to Kinlochleven was a bit of a milestone as had never previously run further than 27 miles. Once I got to that point I mentally decided to chunk the next stage in 10k sections as I could visualise doing that. Having to rely on Susie giving me mileage updates ( My Garmin, deciding today of all days, it didn’t want to record the mileage )I was relieved to get to to the last 10k which was a faster more runnable section down though woods and along a fire road. I was warned that there was a rather sneaky Cow hill to climb in the last mile (slight sense of humour failure at that point) but once you start to hear the cheers and cow bells it’s amazing how all the pain and tiredness goes and you can find a smile and final bit of energy to push you over the finish line.
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I can confirm there were tears at the end mainly relief that it was finished but so chuffed that I had completed something that I didn’t think I could do! Susie was the best running buddy, always kind, supportive and encouraging. Doing what she did with an injured knee and not letting on how much pain she was in deserves an extra medal!

Waking up this morning, having slept like a baby, I’m a little bit broken, everything hurts, stairs were a struggle and I need help to get up from sitting not sure I need to do another Ultra, it was certainly one I my toughest events but will for now, just enjoy the moment.

Huge thanks to all the Organisers and volunteers that make the event so special, their hugs and banter are the best and without whom unique races like these wouldn’t be possible.

As always, thanks to all my family and friends who, especially over the last 3 years, have supported and encouraged me to keep going with all my silly adventures.

From an,

just a little bit proud,

ULTRA runner