March 2008 Day 5

Kinlochleven - Fort William, 14 miles

So day 5 was the final easy 14 miles to Fort William. Having done 86 miles in the last 4 days, this was this time to relax. No sustained climbs, no overly tricky terrain, just stony tracks and a bit of forest running, before hitting the road to Fort William. At least, that was the plan. But the weather decided that wasn’t challenging enough. Apart from the steep climb out of Kinlochleven, the first 7 miles of this run were on moorland. Moorland in the hills. Open moorland in the hills. Open exposed moorland in the hills. Not really where you want to be battling driving rain and winds of up to 70mph then. Aaaaaargh. The problems with cold started early on. The climb crossed many small streams, but due to the torrential rain, they were no longer that small, and were too big to leap across. So for the first one, I spent a few minutes working out my plan – to step on a slightly submerged stone and then stretch across. Except that slightly submerged stones tend to be slippery, and I was wearing road shoes. It wasn’t long before I was standing in the stream, both legs knee deep. The water was so cold. But after that, I figured I may as well go straight through all the streams. It’s not like I could get any wetter. But during the time between streams, I forgot just how cold the water was, and so each time I crossed a stream it was another shock to the system. And the rain and wind were unrelenting. The combination of the two felt like needles were being fired at my face. But despite all of this, apart from the (all too frequent) yells of frustration when I stubbed my toes, I don’t think I stopped smiling. Yes, it was tough, but I was loving it. Just me against the elements, and I knew I would win. After 7 miles I knew that shelter would be provided by the forest plantations, but when I got there the trees had all been felled. So it wasn’t until about mile 10 that I finally reached the dry and sheltered paths of the Glen Nevis Forest. This was another lovely forest section, although it had some evil hills, and fairly steep ups and downs. It led onto the track where I finally had phone reception (although to be honest it was quite nice being completely out of touch for a while), and then onto the road to Fort William. And that was that. The end of the WHW. I had done it. It had been tough at times, and more than once I wanted to stop and cry. But most of the time it was fantastic. The scenery, the challenge of the terrain, the climbs, the beauty of it all. It was amazing. I have learnt a lot. Most of all, I have learnt what to expect in the Fling and on the full race in June. As for physical damage, I’ve not done too badly. Two very sore and bruised big toes, three blisters and a smattering of freckles across my face. Could be worse, and the rewards have been so much more