Scottish Long Coastal Relays

This race was dreamed up and made real by Mike Lynch of Carnethy a few years back. He had suggested I organise a Porty relay team but I declined. Mainly because I felt I couldn't ask someone to do a 20 mile stretch of coastal path in Fife in the middle of the night, which I wouldn't want to do myself. My transport means are limited so I felt unqualified to lead a Porty team into battle. However when the call went out from a fellow PRCer to rally the troops for this, I was happy to volunteer for a daylight shift, perhaps somewhere up near Tentsmuir, a place I am familiar with. My name went down for leg five.

The race is over six sections, one runner per section. Each between 15 and 22 miles long from Kincardine (start time midnight on Friday night) right round the Fife Coastal Path to Newburgh some 116 miles and (approx) 15 hours later. 

I believe there was a What-is-it-App communication between the Porties. Just kidding, but no I don't do WhatsApp so I was out the loop and had to work out what time I reckoned I had to be in St. Andrews. Though just to be sure I communicated with Mark U who let me know Mark F reckoned that 10.30~10.45 was his estimated time of arrival from leg 4. Looking at previous years I reckoned slightly nearer 11 might be the case, then worked back to see what time I had to get the Edinburgh~Leuchars train then bus to St Andrews. I had a cutting-it-fine-option or a leaves-plenty-of-wiggle-room-choice. I once arrived at a check point during the Devil's Burden Relay to find my team mate wasn't yet there. So I know that feeling. I opted for the earlier train (8.30am 😢😢😇) and was warming up in St Andrews about 9.45am. There was a small huddle of folk dressed in running kit. Nobody had come through and Portobello was in 3rd place! As we waited that dropped to 4th. 

St Andrews is golf-centric.
Here (at the golf museum, I know: sick that I couldn't spend all day there)
is a wall of turd-faces that all look like Terry Wogan, Bruce Forsyth and Jimmy Tarbuck.

wee huddle at the change over

PH Racing were first to change at leg 5

Dundee Hawkhill were chasing them down in second

Donald appeared which was good news. I had been concerned that I wouldn't really see other Porties except for the briefest moment at the change over. I had a return ticket to Edinburgh on the train but was hoping not to have to run back to Leuchars, 5+ miles across the A919, but it might come to that. As I set off, resisting the urge to sprint like a headless chicken, I realised I had left my bag on the bench next to the water but not specifically instructed Donald or Rachel to transport it to Wormit Bay. I wondered if I would ever see it again! (Spoiler alert: it was waiting in Wormit Bay though I wasn't sure who exactly had sorted that. I suspect Rachel (thanks!) as Donald was getting a lift to his car which he abandoned in the middle of the night in Dysart, then driving back (maybe via Leuchars, to pick up Matthew (leg 6) and drive them both) to Wormit Bay. I'm not sure if there is a perfect strategy for getting everyone to their spots and then picked up afterwards without having a team manager driving a team bus which has 5 beds, and travels the course as the runners run it. Big thanks to Donald for running a superfast leg then driving about Fife picking up the wreckage of subsequent legs and driving us home! Hurray!

Carnethy number 4

hands over to leg 5, Lucy

my leg - leg 5, St Andrews to Wormit Bay, 20.8 miles

I had had a text from Donald (leg 3) to say he had set off Mark F just after 7.30am so we were hitting roughly about the times I reckoned. It's tricky keeping warm while being ready to run a 20 miler which might start at any moment. There was a marshal 3 miles in front of the change-over, radio-ing through the heads up but somehow Mark eluded them. All of a sudden a marshal shouted there was an errant Porty heading past us towards the beach. I ran in that direction to touch Mark and start my run while Rachel, stand-in organiser oversaw the madness and noted the change over times

come in Mark F your time is up!

I was off! I had (for a change) paid attention earlier to the direction the runners were heading off out of St Andrews and also on the bus on the way in I had looked at the various obstacles I would be faced with. There was this bridge that was closed on the side I was on so I just played chicken with the oncoming traffic. The other side may have been open, I didn't check. It's a RACE! 

Rachel deserves a BIG special mention. She had been drafted in as race director because Mike was having a bionic knee fitted. Rachel and Will did a fabulous job, presumably starting about 11.15pm the night before and going right through the whole day without sleep or recovery. They would see the first 3 or 4 teams through the checkpoint then drive to the next change over and note times and places. And present everyone who ran a leg with a bottle of coastal specific beer. They passed me on the road just before the Leuchars slip road and gave me a hearty cheer as they went past! I bet Rachel spent the following day chilling, sleeping and catching up, you're thinking. Actually she was partnering Jasmin P at the Hodgson Relays, an unenviable task at the best of times.

From Leuchars I could relax. I had checked, and the route was the same one I'd followed into Tentsmuir many times and knew it well. I had the gpx file from the Carnethy webpage in my Suunto to follow as sat-nav, as back up. Which was just as well as many people, unfamiliar with the coastal path went the wrong way. However I had never run it at this pace before. I had checked the times for this section last year. Fastest time was Alison McGill who ran 2.23. Holy crap that is 6.52 pace which is sub 3 marathon pace. No wonder she is Scottish Marathon Champion (and won the Fling recently I think). She was running leg 3 this year and was fastest on that, just pipping Donald by seconds. So that was my target. I ran the first 5 miles in 33 mins something and the second 5 a shade quicker to hit ten, just before the Kinshaldy car park around 66 dead. 

most of Tentsmuir was on this terrain

only other runner I passed and not in the race

this was new ground from here on in

I was now looking at my suunto every minute. I could see where the coastal path went but sometimes it was good to anticipate a turn or sudden zig-zag. It had been remarkably flat till now but I could feel myself slowing as the distance took its toll and route started to undulate more. There were a couple of small climbs but nothing too steep or continuous. I didn't risk toggling between sat-nav and pace so didn't know what pace I was going except when every mile bleeped. Well, up until 12 miles when my six-point-six times table (trying to keep 6.40min miling) failed to mesh with my addled brain.

Lucy in the distance

And then a target. Wasn't that a runner up ahead? Right enough I hadn't really been focussed strategically at my changeover. Had I been paying attention I'd have noticed who was next in line ahead. I had a vague memory of Lucy setting off (I took her photo!) about 25 mins before I did. So that kept me going, although until I saw her number I wasn't sure if she was the Carnethy runner or just someone out for a Saturday run. I said a cheerful hello as I went past but suspected she didn't enjoy the experience in the same way.

Next up BRIDGES! This was very welcome as I had looked for visual clues as to when the torture would end. I had to pass 2 bridges and then I'd be done. I was beginning to feel the pace. Unfortunately the bridges both moved towards me VERY slowly. I hoped the distance after the 20th mile wasn't a full mile but only a smallish fraction of a mile. (Spoiler alert, 0.83 of a mile.)

It wasn't really a day for photos. However the weather was kind. The wind was more to our backs than in our faces and it was neither too hot nor too cold. Sometimes I took photos just because I was carrying a camera and there was little else to do apart from savour the fine moments of pain moving around from legs to back to neck to legs to lungs. May as well take a photo of this, the ugliest possible gate decorations...

this is nicer though

As I say there were quite a few ups and downs. Hopefully I wasn't crawling slowly up one when I was spotted and heckled by the Carnethy team tour bus with Mark at the wheel. He couldn't have been more encouraging and all of a sudden I was showboating along at the same pace as his car. Soon as he drove off I returned, gasping, to plodders pace. Further down the road they (Mark, Fi and Tracy) had parked and gave me a round of applause and, even better, the info that the finish was just around the corner. Thank the lord!

that'll be the train bridge over the silvery Tay!

Next best thing was a bit of downhill into the finish. If it had finished on an up hill I'd have been on all fours. Properly pooped. 2.22. Glad to be done. Very glad!

off the ground but puffing

 I tagged Matthew and he went off at great speed.

The last leg Carnethy runner was keen to know how far behind Lucy was and therefore how much ground he had to make up. Matthew is an unknown quantity to many so I didn't like to dash his hopes too much. But I was pretty certain we would hold onto third place overall unless there were nav issues. Luke the Carnethy did do a fantastic time over the 6th (hilly) leg. However Matthew took 3 minutes out of Luke's time to record the fastest 6th leg of the day and any day, setting a new record with 1.50. An outstanding finish to a memorable day. 

I was re-united with my bag. That was a relief. There were no showers but I was offered a car as a changing room. I declined. There were only a small knot of onlookers and none of them interested, so I walked to the edge of the paved area nearby and stripped off there. I was beyond embarrassment; if someone wanted to look they were welcome. A relief to get into warm dry clothes, though I walked with a strange stiff-limbed gait for the rest of the day. 

all runners get a beer, label design Mike L

winner!

Porty in third!

Rachel presents the trophy to Dundee Hawkhill

PH Racing had dominated in the first half of the race but the last 3 runners from Dundee were all faster resulting in a 4 minute lead at the line. PH were second. Ourselves in third had had our moments and generally stayed steady. There were many excellent performances from lots of individuals but no team had a sufficiently high standard throughout to challenge the course record. (Record = 14hrs36. Porty did 15.08, pretty damn good for a first attempt!) I enjoyed the whole thing way more than I had anticipated. Many thanks to Donald for driving my corpse home after we saw Matthew cross the line in a comfortable third place. Big thanks and well done to Rachel and Will and all the marshals and change over people for working tirelessly throughout the night and following day! Every team managed to finish as they have every year. Which is quite something.

Donald, Matthew, PB