Photos are a mixture of our own and ones from the Highlander Backyard FB group – thanks Rocket Events and the marshals 🙏
An amazing, well organised, low key, no nonsense event with fantastic people – the marshals and volunteers give their all and make it one of the best Backyards I have been to. It’s a good sized event with lovely runners and great chat. Unfortunately the race was stopped after 31 yards with 7 runners still running. The Four Nations Championship was decided on the scores at the time we were stopped which means a win for Team Scotland 🏴 I am super proud to have the opportunity to be a part of that. The team were amazing with everyone digging deep and giving their all and the team crew, Mairi and Lorna, were so organised and helpful – they couldn’t do enough for us runners and it really was appreciated.
The course was new for this year and I loved it – nearly all the up in the first two miles and then down most of the way back apart from a short climb which gave the legs a little rest from the downhill. I didn’t mind the tarmac and the gravel tracks were good (until the rain!) The scenery is stunning and varied making each lap pass quickly and several marshals along the route was great as it broke each loop into smaller sections. They were all amazing, giving us runners a big boost. Yes the route was hilly, with just under 500 ft of climbing on each loop, but I was surprised (and pleased) that I really didn’t mind that.
The weather also deserves a mention – it was wet, really wet, for 13+ hrs, all through the night and into the morning. We were all soaked, it was too hot for jackets so most people just got wet. Turns out running in wet clothes for that long causes quite nasty chafing – every runner I spoke to had chafing in delicate areas 😩 I found KT tape worked best for solving this problem and think I got away relatively lightly. The rain also resulted in lots of people suffering with their feet – trench foot was mentioned by a fair few. My feet held up pretty well with only one blister on the ball of my foot which was soon treated with KT tape. I wore the same shoes the whole race and just went for changing my socks every 4 or 5 yards. The other consequence of the rain was the downhill that had looked like a good solid path turned into a mudfest with streams of water running down it. This was tricky for a lot of people but I found I was really enjoying it and able to keep up a decent pace despite the path deteriorating! Basically all night I revelled in the downpours, the ridiculousness of it all and the fun of being able to be out in it and experience it – I felt alive and had a blast!
We had all been ready for the rain to stop so we could at least dry out a bit, so it was great when it finally did in the morning – but then it was humid, really humid and after lunch the sun came out and it was hot. I probably found these hours the hardest as I don’t like being hot and sweaty and I was. But the good company and chat meant the yards still passed by quickly and I knew I would soon feel better once we got to evening.
With unforeseen family circumstances meaning Iain had been unable to take up his place on the team he was thankfully still able to come up on Sunday and swapped with Rhona who had crewed me all through the night and morning. She was amazing and I couldn’t be prouder of her. She stepped up and got on with it and did everything I needed her to do. The swap to Iain crewing was a smooth transition and it was just lovely to have him there.
Yes, we didn’t get to finish the race but I am able to take so many positives from the weekend that I can take into future races:
- After 31yards, on a hilly course, in terrible weather, I was still feeling really really strong and like I could keep going forever. The training is paying off and I am in a strong position for future races.
- I was able to keep to the pacing I wanted for all 31 yards, I had wanted to be close to 12:30 min/mile average pace and when I looked at Strava afterwards it was 12:31 🎯 My yards did vary a bit between about 51 and 54 minutes as I was enjoying chatting with people on the course so much but I was always in control.
- I wanted to have fun and boy did I! I honestly enjoyed every single yard with so many lovely runners to chat with and get to know. It was great to have time to catch up with old friends and lovely to chat with new people and hear their stories. It was nice to be able to offer advice and encouragement and to see people dig deep to achieve new PBs. All the team runners were lovely and I enjoyed chatting with everyone.
- I got to run for Scotland, and am super proud of that. I loved being part of the team and supporting each other. Hopefully it was the first time of many.
- Food and nutrition went brilliantly and I now have a much clearer idea of what works for me.
- I managed everything that cropped up well with the help of an amazing crew – it meant little niggles never got any bigger and I can’t thank Rhona, Mairi, Lorna and Iain enough for that.
And so that’s a wrap for Backyards for me for this year. I have other races coming up and exciting plans for next year (watch this space). However it is not the end of Backyards and I look forward to coming back to the Highlander next summer and seeing how far I can go… I wonder what weather it will throw at us!
To everyone I spoke to over the weekend, it was lovely and you were all part of making for a very special weekend. Big thanks to Bill and his team for putting on one of the best Backyards I have run at (it’s on a par with Orkney for me) and to the Four Nations teams for the fun competition. Well done Team Scotland 🏴🏴🏴