The Four Nations Championship is an informal but no less hotly contested competition between Scotland, England, Wales and all-Ireland in Backyard Ultra running. Each year, one of the nations hosts the race and each nation sends a team of 10 (minimum 2 female) to compete for the title. Each yard completed by each runner scores a point, up until only one runner is left on the team. The Four Nations Championship takes place at the same time as a regular Backyard Ultra, so even though the last runner on each team is no longer scoring points, they can continue to race against any other remaining runners as in a “normal” Backyard Ultra.
We had both run for the team before, myself in Wales in 2023, neither in England 2024 (due to the World Team Championships) and Julie in Scotland 2025. This year the race would be hosted at the Florence Court Last One Standing race in Northern Ireland. Julie was fully focussed on the Highlander BYU in July so I happily accepted my call-up to the team and put together a short BYU-specific training block. Before long June rolled around, Scotland had just played (and won!) our first World Cup fixture for 28 years and it was time to pack up and head down to Glasgow to meet up with the team. One of the best bits about the Four Nations is that we make it bit of a road trip. This year, Brian was the team captain, crew chief and bus driver – team manager Bill having jetted off to Alps (poor excuse) and left him to keep us organised. Unfortunately, the Florence Court race fell on the same weekend as the West Highland Way race, meaning that many of the top Scottish backyarders were not available as they were already commited to racing, crewing or volunteering there. In the end, only 3 of the team from last year were available, but we still put together a strong roster of up-and-coming runners as well as a few grizzled veterans (Ivor and myself). When all the team lists were published it was clear that Scotland had a narrow lead “on paper” based on prior PBs but the other teams all had backyard debutantes so could be expected to score more! With Scotland the holder of the Four Nations title for the last 2 years running, the pressure was on to retain it against strong competition.
Pre-race
On a drizzly Friday morning the majority of the team met up at AMK van hire in Glasgow, loaded up the minibus with 10,000s of calories worth of food, boxes of running gear, folding chairs and other backyard paraphernalia and hit the road. After a quick stop to pick up Ivor at the train station we headed South through heavy rain to catch the ferry at Cairnryan over to Belfast. We met up at the ferry port with Heather who was travelling over with some of her family, as well as Alex and Lukasz who were in their own car as they were taking a holiday in Northern Ireland after the race. We were also joined by Jordan’s friend Jordan 🤯 who would help with crewing during the race.
The journey over was uneventful, and about half way over the rain finally stopped and I headed up on deck to see Northern Ireland approaching. Before long we were summoned down to the vehicle decks and after some confusion looking for our bus on the wrong deck we disembarked and made the short journey into central Belfast where we were staying the night. By the time we arrived and with the prospect of either an early night or staying up to watch the Scotland vs Morocco game planned we ate together in the hotel bar. We were joined at the hotel by Cameron who had flown over separately and Team Scotland was complete! I took the “early night” option and had a surprisingly good pre-race sleep, despite being woken by a rendition of “No Scotland, No Party!” from somewhere outside after the (disappointing) Morocco game.
The race didn’t start until midday so we had time for a big hotel breakfast before taking the bus over to Florence Court, near Enniskillen. In the morning I taped up my right ankle that I had injured at Barkley. Subsequently I had it MRI’d and confirmed I had torn the two ligaments on the outside of the ankle. They had healed up well (after all I had run 100+ miles at Rasselbock BYU in March and 100k at Ultra X Scotland in May) but I still had some residual swelling and stiffness. Whether the tape really helped or if it was a placebo I don’t know but I preferred to have some extra support for the race. We arrived at the race HQ about 90 minutes before the start, ditched the bus (literally, Brian got the front wheels stuck in the mud), unloaded and set up Team Scotland HQ in the remaining marquee that had been provided for us. There were two marquees for the Four Nations teams adjacent to the corral, England and us sharing one and Wales and Ireland the other. The other competitors set up camp on the surrounding grassy areas or hard standing. It was a little bit hectic getting set up with ten of us in such a small area, fortunately Cameron and Heather had a tent which they also used for a while so we managed!
We received both our Team Scotland vests (provided by Bill), and also a Four Nations race shirt provided by the organisers Atlas Running. This would be the final Florence Court race as Sammy and Adrian are retiring from RDing so the shirt said on the back “Last Last One Standing”, and had Scotland (or the other nations) written on the front. I got changed into my race kit, made sure to put on plenty of factor 50 as the clouds had largely given way to blazing sun. It was around 19C already, with Sunday forecast to reach 21C and Monday as high as 24 or 25. I had time for a brief wander around the camp to say hi to Vic Owens (team manager for Wales) and several others, including Johnathan Lowe who had brought a selection of Swedish goodies over for me after a chance comment on Facebook 😋
Before long it was time for the race briefing, which can best be described as “informal”. The entire route was described to us, which was next to useless, and we were informed that a lot of the course marking had to be removed on request of the estate. Fortunately I had the route on my watch and had no intention of being anywhere near the front so I didn’t expect to get lost. We got a Team Scotland photo, I make the obligatory last toilet stop and then we all gathered into the corral as the 3,2,1 minute whistles blew. All of the anticipation that had been building throughout the weeks of training and the last few days road trip subsided and I felt a familiar sense of calm, preparedness and focus – I was determined to have a great race. One final whistle and we set off!
Course Description
Many of the yards seem to blur into one, so I’ll describe the course first and then tell a bit of the story of how the race went. The start and finish are in what would normally be a car park for visitors to Florence Court (the house and estate are managed by the National Trust as a visitor attraction). The first 0.9 miles follow the access road to the main entrance kiosk and then make a long out-and-back nearly to the top of the drive that leads to the house. This section is all on tarmac and the drive is a mostly a gentle climb with a couple of steeper sections, and fully exposed to the sun. It does have the advantage though that you get to see everyone in the race as you pass the turnaround and was a great location for Team Scotland mutual encouragement. Back at the bottom of the drive you turn right into a the forest to start what is essentially a big clockwise loop of the estate. The first section I nicknamed “the jungle” as the muddy and stony path wound a narrow cut through head-high grasses and trees. Shortly after the end of mile one, we took a sharp right onto a wider track through more open woodland, crossing first a small bridge over the mill race, then a wider bridge (known as the “rubber bridge” due to the non-slip coating) over the Larganess River. This section near the river was particularly humid and oppressive all weekend. After crossing the river, the route continued on a wide stony track gradually uphill with open meadow on the right, twisting and turning before eventually reaching a small footbridge above a ford to cross the Finglass River. Immediately after the bridge there is a short but very steep climb which tops out just at the end of mile two. A little further on, there is a distinct tree which marks the half-way point of the yard. The good news is that the you are now at the highest point of the course and the second half has many runnable sections which are easy underfoot and possible to make up time if needed. From the top, we followed a long straight stony path with many nasty potholes (by the end of the race I could avoid them with my eyes shut – a handy skill as it turned out), before eventually turning right onto a lane with a nice view to the right over the meadow to the house. This lane dipped sharply downhill before turning left onto a very gradually rising sandy track that makes a large roughly square loop around a paddock area to the rear of the house. The far corner of this square has roughly 100m of concrete and marks the end of mile three, before turning right again to head back towards the house. Reaching a car park, picnic area and playpark, a short banking leads to a crossroads where we turned right and followed a lane that leads along the back of the house before a short descent down to the mill, where the lade passes over head in an aqueduct. A little wiggle round the back of the mill leads onto white ornamental gravel paths in the front garden of the house. One final climb leads up to the very front of the house, where a pair of cannons overlook the lawn (which had a pair of robotic lawnmowers that could be seen in action at several times during the weekend). From here it is just half a mile of downhill to the finish. A short section of gravel path before crossing the drive just above the turnaround point in the first mile and continuing down though some shady woods on nice runnable paths. Finally, a sharp left led out past the visitor centre and onto a very short section of tarmac and back in to camp! According to my watch, a total around 250 feet of climb per loop – so far from flat but barring the couple of short climbs almost all runnable – a good course for a long race!
The Four Nations Race
The first few yards went by in a flash, I was so busy talking to people that I barely had time to see where I was going! Around yard 3 (I think) I actually made an effort to stay mostly by myself so I could focus on learning the course – both the navigation and deciding where was best to run and walk to hit my goal pace of 12:30/mile, working out at around 52 minutes per yard. By mid-afternoon I realised I had made a rookie mistake – in the rush to get ready I had forgotten to tape my nipples. Fortunately no damage had been done but after several attempts to stick my usual micropore tape to sweaty skin I ended up going with two patches of KT which stayed stuck on till the end of the race! I started out the race in my Scotland vest, but with glare of the afternoon sun beating down I quickly switched into a shirt to keep my shoulders covered. My famous orange camo bucket hat also made an appearance and kept the sun off my head, face and neck. As the evening arrived the sun gradually dropped and disappeared entirely. It was nice to be running in the cooler air and even after the first head-torch yard at 10pm it was still short sleeves weather. The temperature dropped gradually throughout the night and after midnight I put on arm sleeves and eventually a light jacket. At about 2am I did a faster loop, coming in with 42 minutes so that I could get a sleep. With most of Team Scotland still running, space in our marquee was at a premium so I asked Brian to set up my folding camp bed outside, behind the marquee. I got about 15 minutes or so lying out, not fully asleep but at least getting some rest. Apart from that I was just reclining in my chair between yards and getting a few minutes with my eyes shut. Before long the sky started to lighten and in total we had only 6 night yards where a head-torch was strictly necessary.
I chatted with loads of people during the first day, including most of the Scotland team as well as a Terry Smith and Andy Miles from England and Liam Kelly from Wales, and a whole bunch of other people too! As always, it was great to spend some time with people who were pushing their own boundaries and I did a lap with a lady called Julie (aiming to beat he own PB of 12) and her friend (who had never run further than a half marathon before but was on yard 7 when we met). They had a friend called Iain who was not running and – their words, not mine – breaths like a horse, so whenever I came up behind them I would do my best horse whinny to much amusement 🤣 I also spotted a guy wearing a Barkley Fall Classic shirt and had a brief chat with him before he introduced me to one of his friends who had actually run the full Barkley a few years ago, so we were able to exchange stories of how our races had gone – both of us are hoping to go back.
During the first night we lost our first member of Team Scotland – Alex DNF’ed after 12 laps but after adding two yards to her PB it was a great effort. All the other teams had lost at least one member. Heather made it through to the morning light and stopped on 19 and the rest of us pushed on towards 24 hours. I was still moving really well, eating and drinking well – surprisingly for me given the heat. My legs were feeling pretty beat up though and I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why. I just seemed to have lost my drive, especially when walking and consequently I was having to run more of the course than I had planned. I was still keeping to my target pace though and feeling more and more confident I could be in for a long race.
At midday 37 runners reached the 24 yard / 100 mile mark, including the remaining 8 of Team Scotland and we gradually inched ahead of the other teams. The afternoon heat was tough though, with Cameron and Brendan stopping after 25, Lukasz on 29 and Jordan and Karen on 30 (both PBs). Karen’s was particularly impressive as she had been struggling with knee pain and did the last few yards wearing a knee support and in a lot of pain. I did a lap with her at one point during the first night and tried to make a few helpful suggestions about how to manage it, only to find out later that she was a qualified physio 🤦♂️ The big surprise of the afternoon was when Andy Miles (GOBYU winner with PB of 58) stopped after 27 yards – good news for us on Team Scotland!
It was even more of a relief to make it into the evening and the field had really thinned out, with only 14 runners continuing past 6pm (30 yards). As the evening drew on Tom was also starting to struggle with a knee problem. He made one more lap with it taped up before calling it a day (with another PB). As the second night fell there were 8 runners remaining in the race – myself and Ivor from Team Scotland, three English runners (Jonathan, Oli and Terry) and three Irish (Peter, Wayne, Joey – although none of them were on the Irish team). It was a little bit of “squeaky bum time” as although we had a lead over England they were for the first time starting to close the gap. Fortunately Terry called it a day on 35, leaving us on par again – a great debut backyard performance from Terry (although he does have an excellent ultra CV, including finishes of the Thames Ring 250 and more). Ivor was still going well and had his sights set on Keith Burge’s UK V60 Backyard record of 42 yards but over the next few laps he started to struggle with his knees and developed a nasty cough too. We did a few sections together – he would tend to run ahead of me on the flatter sections and then I would catch him on the downhills where he was walking to preserve his knees. My legs were pretty sore and tired by this point, with the exception of my quads which were feeling really strong so downhill running was no issue. I had taped up both my feet during the afternoon to address some hot spots that were forming on the balls of my feet but otherwise everything was stable and although things were hurting a bit I was still able to stick to my pace and put the discomfort out of my mind.
The End Game
As we reached midnight, Johnathan and Joey both stopped. This meant that with two Scottish runners still in, our points total was now unassailable – we had won the Four Nations Championship for the third year in a row! Ivor and I celebrated the news out on the course and there was cheering in camp (from those who were awake, at least). Ivor gamely pushed on, getting gradually slower before eventually succumbing after yard 39. At this point there were four left – Peter Cromie and Wayne McGuigan were running mostly together at the front, plus Oli Jones and myself running mostly solo. At the start of the 40th yard Oli said he had been having a hard time but really wanted to make it to 40, so we agreed to run together and it was one of my best laps of the race. He’s a great guy and we had a really nice chat which just passed the lap really quickly (at least for me). Poor Oli took a tumble in the woods though and cut his hands, exactly as I was pointing out a rock that someone had tripper over during the first night – sorry Oli 🙈 He made it round to set a new PB in the 40s and was really happy to finish as the last English runner.
As there was quite a lot going on during the night I hadn’t done a faster lap for a proper sleep break, but I was taking regular micro naps in my chair. At one point I was completely out cold and had to be woken up by Brian with 60 seconds to go to the start!
As morning broke on the third day (Monday) that left three of us in the race. With the Four Nations race over, I started to focus on my own ambitions which were to post a large enough total to qualify myself for the UK Team championships. My current record of 51 yards had recently been beaten by runners at Red On, GOBYU, Suffolk and other races and I had been pushed off the at-large list so I was really keen to get a big result and with Wayne and Peter both going strong this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I had discussed with Julie and it seemed like 64 yards should be the target to be reasonably safe given that there were still roughly two months of the qualifying period still to go. Wayne had a PB of 43 but was looking good and Peter had a PB of 61 and had an unbeaten record at this race. We had a chat and I agreed that I would be happy to cede the win to either of them if I reached my goal and this became the informal “plan”. The only fly in the ointment was that the Team Scotland bus had to leave at midday (48 yards) in order to get the ferry home, potentially leaving me crewless and with no way home! During the morning several plans were discussed during the short inter-loopal periods but eventually Team England came to the rescue. Both Johnathan (who had just run 36 yards himself) and Becky (team manager) were able to stay until Tuesday morning and Johnathan offered to crew me and even give me a lift back to the ferry. We’d need to leave at 4am on Tuesday which happily was the 64 yard mark. I am absolutely indebted to those guys – while I was committed enough that I would have tried to race the last 16 hours crewless, it would not have been pretty! The Scotland/England rivalry was put to one side although there was some entertaining banter as they videoed the Scotland bus driving off and leaving me behind and unbeknownst to me, hung up an England flag above my chair 😲
The Monday afternoon was particularly tough – as forecast, it was even hotter than the weekend and although the clouds provided some relief from any direct sun it was really humid and muggy. The section through the “jungle” at the end of mile one and the woods that followed was almost like a steam room and was making me really sleepy every time. I took to running that whole section simply because if I broke into a walk my eyelids start drooping and head nodding! Around this time, Wayne started to slow down and instead of running up front with Peter he gradually dropped back until he was finishing the laps behind me. On yard 50 the heat and exhaustion finally caught up with him. Wayne made a fast start, but around the end of mile one I caught up with him and found him staggering across the trail and stumbling into the verge. I stopped to ask if he was OK and he just mumbled incoherently. When asked if he wanted me to buddy him round the yard as he didn’t seem in good shape he was at least able to tell me he didn’t want any help! I ran on but was a bit concerned about him so I phoned the RDs and suggested they might want to send someone out on a bike to check on him. I caught up with Peter mid way round the yard who had pretty much the same story having passed Wayne shortly before me. We finished loop 50 together and Wayne eventually made it back in time but DNF’d and disappeared for to cool down and had several hours of sleep before we saw him later, fortunately all OK.
Now it was down to the last two the goal was clear – I was counting down the yards to reach 64 and Peter was hanging on for the win in what he said would be his final backyard. During the late afternoon it was pointed out to me that I had just passed by own PB and Scottish record of 51, but I was far from done. I knew I needed a minimum of 55 to get onto the bottom slot of the UK at-large list, but I was aiming higher and after a few tricky hours in the afternoon heat I was feeling good to push on into my first ever third night of a race. I was still eating well (enjoyed a salty noodle pot at dinner time), feet were still OK (both taped and feeling battered but usable) and the legs had just not got any worse since the first night. We did three or four loops separate – usually with Peter a minute or so in front of me and then the lap before nightfall Peter suggested that we buddy up to push through the night. Since there was no point in “racing” this was an excellent idea and we worked well together – more running and a bit faster than I would have gone myself but certainly managable, and since I was down to single figures of laps remaining I was happy to burn a few more matches than would have been sensible if I was trying to keep going indefinitely. We actually had quite a good chat going too, since we had hardly spoken for the majority of the race as our pacing was quite different. As night fell and it got a little bit colder, the faster pace kept me warmer too – no need for arm sleeves this night!
We had a nice rhythm going and had just passed midnight (60 yards) when part-way round the 61st yard without warning the wheels started to come off for both of us! Firstly I had a strange asleep-but-awake feeling which is hard to describe. I could see the trail ahead in my torchlight and where I was putting my feet but it seemed like I was watching the view on TV rather than seeing it through my own eyes… someone was in control (or on auto-pilot) and it wasn’t me, or a least not the conscious part of me. Realising I was probably at growing risk of taking a major tumble or just falling fully asleep I warned Peter and we walked the next section, talking to keep me awake. In hindsight I think I had just gone into such a consistent rhythm of running combined with the sensory input reduction of night running that I had gone into some trance-like state! We decided to run the last downhill from the front of the house to the camp, and despite talking it over several times afterward we can’t quite piece together exactly what happened. I remember Peter being ahead on the ornamental gravel path, and crossing the drive, but when I emerged from the woods at the visitor centre, there was no sign of Peter. He thinks he took a wrong turning in the woods (missing the sharp left turn to the visitor centre) and went straight on, maybe only for 100m or so, before retracing his steps to find me. We regrouped and stumbled the final section in to camp.
Arriving in the camp, I asked Johnathan and Becky to give us all the caffeine and sugar that they could – I took a caffeine gel, some chocolate coated coffee beans and KMC bar. Peter had gone to his tent and decided to change his head torch, but came into the corral really disoriented. As the whistle blew for the start of yard 62 we had to stop almost immediately so he could figure out how to even turn his head torch on! We decided that while there was definitely a risk we might not make it round, we should try at least to do the out-and-back on the road and see how it went. I think the crew were a bit worried about us, and I think they tailed us at a discreet distance in a car just to check we were going the right way. We got into a decent rhythm up and down the hill, and were able to keep moving ahead of the 14:30/mile pace that we would need to make it round in an hour. Feeling a little more confident, we headed out into the woods. Peter was setting the pace and periodically checking that I was still awake, and I was keeping track of the pace and calling out the directions. I had no problem navigating but for the next few hours Peter seemed to periodically forget entirely which way to go. At the start of one of the laps he even walked straight into the front of a parked van! For me, the caffeine seemed to have kicked in and apart from occasional short vision blackouts (probably my eyes closing!) I felt sharper and more alert.
We kept this routine for the next three hours and it got us to the end of yard 64. On the plus side, having to focus really hard on what we were doing made the time pass quickly! Peter was really worried that he might get lost by himself on yard 65 (and to be honest I gave him maybe 75% odds of success) but we shook hands in the corral and sent him on his way for the victory lap!
The Journey Home
Although my race was over, the clock was still running as Johnathan and I had to get to the ferry! I got changed, Becky and Johnathan helped to gather up all of my remaining food and gear plus the several medals and coins I had earned during the event. Within half an hour we had said our goodbyes to the RDs Sammy and Adrian and hit the road. I fell asleep almost immediately, waking only when we stopped part of the way back to Belfast for coffee. I only hope Johnathan had managed to get some sleep between laps, but in any case we made it without incident and he promptly fell asleep once we had parked up in the boarding queue. It was great to get a message from Becky to confirm that Peter had indeed made it round the final lap successfully and won the race 🎉
Despite having less than 90 minutes of sleep over the preceding three-and-a-half days I must have been wired enough with excitement that I stayed awake for most of the remaining journey home. We had taken the freight ferry (P&O Larne->Cairnryan) which had the added bonus of a large cooked breakfast and access to showers, which made me feel at least half human again! The day consisted of a tedious multi-leg journey by bus from Cairnryan to Stranraer. While waiting for the bus I must have looked quite a state as I was “welfare checked” by a policeman, which I assume is a euphemism for assessing whether I was likely to cause a public nuisance 🤣 Whoever put the Stranraer train station a half-mile walk from the town centre needs to think again! Fortunately a local took pity on me lugging all my kit in the blazing sun (it was even hotter than Monday) and gave me a lift on the tailgate of his van! Train from Stranraer to Ayr, a missed connection and short wait before the next train from Ayr to Glasgow. Thankfully, Karen from Team Scotland had volunteered to pick me up from the station and take me down to AMK Van hire where I had left my car parked on Friday. Brian also met me there to bring a few bits of my kit that had been taken back in the minibus the day before. I took a quick nap before probably the drive home. One coffee stop and another nap stop later and I was home safely. In total the whole trip lasted 4 and a half days – 26 hours outbound, 64 hours running and 16 hours on the way home. Efficient!
Reflections
Obviously, the whole race went as well as I could ever have dared to hope in terms of the result. Firstly, helping Team Scotland to victory in the Four Nations Championship, followed by setting a new PB and Scottish record by 13 yards and finishing at the assist to Peter. I’m not even disappointed not to win – I think if the two of us had raced, it could have gone either way but the race would have likely ended around yard 60, so I’m happy that both of us were able to walk away having achieved what we wanted. Having finally managed to hit 64 yards and put myself firmly back into the qualification race for the UK Team Championship the overall feeling is one of satisfaction and relief. I had believed ever since Rasselbock 2025 that I had the capability to go further but due to the set of races I had chosen to run I had not had the opportunity to show it. Meanwhile, so many other good runners had posted results that had pushed me off the bottom of the at-large list and I was left almost in last-chance saloon. Running 64 yards and knowing I could have gone further if I hadn’t had to stop to get back home gives me huge confidence looking ahead to October and beyond.
Every race is an opportunity to learn and improve and there are definitely positives and negatives from this one.
- My nutrition and hydration went great. Given the hot conditions, I would have expected to feel sick and probably puke at least once during the race but I felt great. I took a 250ml flask of mostly KMC ISO Mix (sometimes IRN-BRU, Dr. Pepper or Coke) on every day loop and one every other loop during the night. I suspect having better hydration helped my stomach to digest and it willing accepted a wide range of solid foods during the day. At night (9pm-5am) I stuck to drink, soup, bars and Enduo pouches only and always felt ready to eat again when the sun came up. Definitely a success and something I’ll try to replicate in future races.
- Shoes worked well. My new Salomon Pulsar were a comfy replacement for my old favourite Sense Ride 5s – so much that when I swapped into them after 100 miles, they felt really harsh and I changed back after only one yard! So 263 miles in a single pair of shoes and 4 in the backup pair 🤣 My feet were pretty good. I kind of switched off a bit from managing them properly towards the end. With about 6 hours to go I could feel a hotspot developing on the inside of my right foot but since there were only a few hours left I ignored it and of course there was a fully developed blister by the end. The soles of my feet were pretty tender, but the usual taping system helped. I went through 3 pairs of socks during the race, changing whenever I took them off to inspect my feet. I think for future I can definitely improve on this area and am considering swapping my usual knee-length socks for ankle socks as I feel the difficulty and time taken to remove and replace the longer socks discourages me from spending more time looking after my feet. It’s also easier to take them on and off without disturbing taping. Something to try for next time!
- My legs held up pretty well, including my ankle. As in previous races, they got gradually stiffer and sorer but after about 12 hours it just didn’t get any worse and certainly never looked like threatening my race. I did find that my walking pace was worse than usual, not sure why that was the case – could be the heat or maybe more backyard-specific training required?
- My mindset was totally solid throughout. The first day or so I focussed on the Four Nations, encouraging my team-mates, checking in on people and generally having a sociable time with everyone around. I enjoyed the pressure of having the highest PB on the team and I hope that I was able to bring positivity and experience to the team and do my bit to contribute to nearly half the team hitting new PBs. The mentally toughest part was from around 30-40 yards, where the majority of the Four Nations runners were out but there was still a long way to go and I couldn’t fully focus on my own goals yet. After we were down to the final three it was easy to stay focussed on hitting my pace goals. The “Pace Is A Choice” phrase that I had homed in on during training really helped and I simply adjusted my running and walking strategy to suit throughout. I did the majority of the race at 12:30/mile, except for one faster yard at 10:30/mile during the night, and a few yards on the Monday where I slowed to 12:45/mile to give myself a bit of a break during the hot afternoon. I used my headphones for a few hours during each night and they gave me the usual boost, just when I needed it as my body naturally slows down at night.
- Crewing went really well – for the first few days I had Brian and his team of helpers to make up drinks, prepare food etc. Space was a little bit tight in the Scotland Marquee so I didn’t spread out my kit as much as usual but we made it work! When Johnathan and Becky stepped in on Monday they did a great job – considering that Johnathan had never crewed anyone before, he did great 😀 I like to think I am low maintenance and not too demanding, but if I’m at an event with dedicated crew I can certainly afford to rely on them more, for example at one point I kept forgetting to take my paracetamol for several hours, only to remember part way round the yard, and then forget by the time I got back again. I also meant to brush my teeth (furry mouth after 2 days of carb drinks), and forgot entirely to take my anti-histamines on Monday morning too. Four Nations is a bit of a special case though, and the crewing approach that I did with Meagan and Ross at Rasselbock was a well-oiled machine.
Writing this a week on from the race, the start of my recovery had gone well. The blisters have all gone down, my feet are still a bit swollen and sore in the evenings, and my calves still hurt a bit. I managed a parkrun at 12 mins/mile run/walk pace on Saturday so that’s a good sign. I do fully intend to take a longer recovery period than normal as I feel like I have been on a race/recover/train/taper loop for almost a year and there are a few niggles that I just need to give proper time to rest. I’ll be keeping active, and probably going for the odd run but taking it easy for the next 3 or so weeks at least. I’m looking forward to supporting Julie at the Highlander BYU – she deserves it after supporting me through all my races this year so far. After that, if all goes to plan I can start my training for the Team World Championships in October.