With two weeks to the Fling, I needed something to do at the weekend that didn’t involve an excessive amount of running. On various facebook posts there was a short ultra (31 miles) that people were talking about, I ignored that obviously, but I noticed there was a duathlon as part of the same event that would fit the bill nicely – The Skidaddle Great Tartan Duathlon! Ooooh! This was perfect, as it coupled some exercise and my favourite Scottish word, “Skidaddle”. So I entered, hoping for some fun in the Trossachs.
The ultra and duathlon follow the same route, along the recently opened Great Trossachs Path, from Loch Lomond to Callander. The duathlon differs in that you pick up your bike after 5 miles at Loch Katrine, then ditch it 18miles later near Loch Venachar for the final 7mile run to Callander. With the bikes loaded onto a trailer, and the runners and riders transported to Inversnaid pier, we were ready for the off. Blistering sunshine mixed with driving snow seemed to be our weather for the day, but we had little wind and it was generally clear – a good day ahead, for sure! Only a few people on the start line, maybe 15 ultrarunners and about 10 duathletes. Pretty sure I was the only Carnethy, though I did see fellow Circonaut, Aron (Westies), there for the ultra. At the start the organiser said to be aware that there was another cycling race on at the same time, but they had agreed to use luminous pink signs instead of luminous yellow. “So, follow the Trossachs Path markers, if you see a yellow arrow then follow it, and ignore any pink arrows”. Remember this line, I’ll be referring to it later!
Starting quickly there’s a steep climb from the loch, I started well and surprisingly sat in second(!) place on the climb. Ahead, far ahead, was another lad who was chewing up the hill like it wasn’t there. Onto the flatter sections and I tried to get into a rhythm to see how things were going to go; and as far as I could tell the lad ahead was pulling away strongly, too fast for me, and the guys behind were falling back. Ah well, I guess there was nothing to do but keep running steadily until the bike section. A fastish jaunt looking over the lovely Loch Arklet, before heading towards Loch Katrine. At transition the lad ahead had already been and gone by the time I arrived, so I grabbed my bike and went out strongly to see if I had any better luck on the cycle leg which looped around the loch.
I caught the lad ahead after about 13miles of cycling, near the Loch Katrine ferry port. We chit chatted, exchanged places a few times, I tried to give him some juice as he’d left his fuel back at transition, before we left the tarmac and started the more offroad section. He seemed little less confident over the nasty stuff so I managed to get a little ahead and put some daylight between us. Of course, this meant I was in first place!!! Yasss!!! It was my moment! My moment to SHINE!! Not really, I knew there was not enough cycling to get ahead far enough to ensure he wouldn’t pass me later, and he was far too fast a runner for me to even think about finishing ahead on the run – it was his to lose, and I would just stick to holding on to second, which is far better than I could normally hope for anyway! Alas, all this didn’t matter, as no sooner had I got ahead it seems I was lost! The track came to a T-junction, with no markings whatsoever, and it was odd that they would have nothing there. Looking behind, no sign of the other guy, and he should have been close by. So I must’ve missed a sign somewhere, bah! Ah well, I took a chance on the left path, and found myself meeting somebody who pointed me down to the next marshal. I was back on track, but confused about whether I had gone wrong (I had, by 1.5 miles), and if there was anybody ahead (there was).
Back onto some tarmac for final mile of the cycle, maybe, passing a familiar marshal, then further on some yellow arrows pointing to a road on the left. Yellow arrows, we follow those, remember? So, left, then up a very steep hill. More arrows, very yellow arrows. The road gets higher and higher, tarmac leads to landrover tracks, rockier and rockier, then bum-hurting trails. A long time was passing, but I thought that maybe it’s due to the rough terrain, yellow arrows all the way. Knackered, I check my Garmin and I’m nearly at 30miles, and the total race distance is 30 miles and I’d not even started running the final 7 miles. Something’s gone wrong. I realise I’m part of the different race, and will be about an hour off course when I finally get back. Sigh. So, I look on the bright side, laugh at my situation, and then slowly pootle back the way I came, chit chatting to any hikers on the way to find out where I was. It seems I was looking out over Glen Finglas Reservoir – very pretty! I might as well head down to where I should’ve been, and just tell the marshals that I’ll withdraw to cycle back, and enjoy the remainder of my day in the intermittent sunshine.
Back to where I’d gone wrong, there was a marshal stationed to stop folk following the left turn. I was told that the other event (Evan’s Cycles Offroad) hadn’t quite stuck to their agreement to use pink signs, used yellow instead, and so that’s where it all went awry. Ho hum. Anyway, once at the transition they say I’m not last (surprisingly), so I decide that I might as well run the rest anyway just to squeeze-out some extra Fling training. A slow jog back talking to people and enjoying the sun and the scenery, maybe even stopping for the pee that I’d promised myself 10 miles ago. At the finish I’m told the guy that’s still out there was the guy I was cycling with much earlier, it seems he had similar (if not identical) problems with the cycle route, he was ok though. A shame that it wasn’t just me that’d fallen foul of it, and that he’d missed a chance to win.
With hindsight, maybe I should’ve taken maps, or done a recce or something, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I was out for the fun of it, to visit somewhere new, and I was rewarded with a fun route, fantastic scenery and a bit of a chuckle too. My only complaint is that we had to wait a couple of hours for the bikes to be brought back, as we not only had to wait for all the duathletes to finish the cycle, but for all the ultrarunners to pass through that checkpoint too. Not a big deal really, but a little annoying when you’re keen to get home.
So, all in all, around 4 hours of running and cycling, and 39.5miles for the price of 30! I guess that’s a good result!
Results and photos here, I think, at some point: http://www.skidaddle.org/category/results/
Jim Hardie