What a great race for Thomas and what an excellent time! He finished the DOTH in 6hrs:34min and arrived in 10th position. He managed to achieve his targets of a Top Ten Finish and to stay under 7hrs. Last year he would have been second with this time! But this year was a very fast race and the first five runners were all under 6 hrs beating the existing record! But what is much more important is the fact that Thomas really enjoyed this run. He felt good with no major injury concerns and just went out there to have a great race. He has beaten his demons of the WHWRace-DNF and was able to feel how it should be if a race is going well. I am very pleased for him.
On the support side, this was also a fast and at times hectic race due to the rather short intervals we had in between support stops. As my parents had to pull out from their visit we employed the help of a friend (Dirk) at short notice. Nancy, our well experienced Fling and WHW support crew member had other commitments so I had a first-time supporter in my crew. But it worked very well, he even enjoyed it despite the rain and the midges (yes they are still out there!) and he might volunteer again for future races. The worst stop was the one at Blackrock Cottage. Not only because it brought back bad memories of the WHW race for me as this was where it was all over for Thomas in June. We had to leave the car at the ski lift station and carry our stuff down and then heat our water for the soup in pouring rain waiting for Tom to arrive. Good time keeping was needed as he was already ahead of his schedule and the soup should not be too hot but also not too cold and of course the bits of pasta should be well soaked and not crispy ...
Well, this would have been o.k. if there was not the need for an urgent toilet call just 10min before the water should have been started to be heated. And if the toilet facilities at the lift had been open. I dropped the first-time supporter off at Blackrock Cottage with the gear, drove back to the Kingshouse Hotel where we were staying, ran up to our room, back down, up to the ski lift with the car and a jog down to Blackrock Cottage again. Dirk had it all under control (and passed his support crew "test"). And the soup was just perfect when our runner arrived. It could have all been more relaxed if we had known that the support crew did not have to be at the checkpoint. We could have leisurely prepared everything in our dry hotel room at the Kingshouse - well next time!
We managed to get to Lundavra as well and then dashed to Fort William where I thought we might see the winner arriving, but no chance. With a winning time of 5:22 we were far too late. We just managed to see George Cairns arrive in third position at 5:47. I chatted to a few people I knew from the WHW runs until Thomas arrived at the finish. We then waited for Davie Bell to finish and of course the amazing First Lady Sharon (Debbie's support runner) who finished in 7:12. Very well done. We stayed for the prize giving ceremony where even I won a prize! A spot-prize of Thorlo running socks! No excuse now!
Me, Tom & Dirk
Tom, Sharon with her winner's trophy, Davie
2 comments:
Hi Silke, I'm really pleased that Thomas ran so well this time and I enjoyed your report.
I do wonder why you used Blackrock cottage as a service point when parking is so limited. I appreciate that it may be an official checkpoint but did you know that you can drive up that road *behind* Kingshouse and use that area there? A lot more space and handier for the hotel should anyone need to use the facilities.
Great support crew report, and well done in endurance terms for putting up with the midges and rain!
When will Tom be supporting you on your first ultra then? :-)
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