Type 2 Fun Run
On the drive up to the Cairngorms for the Type 2 Fun Run on 31st August 2019, I was repeatedly telling myself three things:
1. It hadn't rained that much, the river crossings should be relatively easy
2. I can definitely survive two days without sleep
3. It was going to be a nice and steady run, I'd finish well within the time limit
I only had to glimpse the raging waters barrelling down into Braemar to crush my hopes of crossing any rivers easily. I should have known that in 30 hours time I’d be dashing for the finish hardly able to stand up.
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| Some checkpoints from the northern sector |
The Type 2 Fun Run is a new event for 2019 merging the skills required for both mountain marathons and ultra-distance running into an epic overnight battle with the Scottish mountains. Starting and finishing in Braemar, competitors were provided with a set of 42 checkpoints (CP) scattered across the Cairngorms National Park and given a 30-hour time limit to tag as many as possible. Carrying a sleep system is required for emergency purposes but for the hardiest endurance runners, I guess sleep was essentially optional.
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| A simple start to a not so simple run |
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| Lots of water below Broad Cairn |
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| Finally off the tops headed for Callater Bothy |
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| Top of Glas Moal |
The unique challenge of the T2FR stems from the fact that control points are released a week in advance. Too little time to recce possible route choices and yet, enough time to sear every possible route option into the back of your head. After a swift rest at the Glenshee Ski Resort (CP7) and a climb up to Cairnwell (CP8) I’d run/climbed around 60 km/3000 m of my planned route and was already pretty beaten up. I was now faced with a decision to either take the direct route across the hills to my next checkpoint at Bob Scott’s Bothy (CPM9) or opt for the longer yet slightly easier run along valley road via Braemar. With the sun setting, I forced the temptation of warm cups of tea and hot food out of my head and set off across the hills for an arduous brawl with heather & bogs.
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| From the top of Cairnwell headed for Bob Scott's |
Despite the endless tussocks, by 22:00 that evening I was out of the hills and hobbling along the paved road towards Bob Scott’s. My intention was to continue through to the foot of The Devil’s Point before a significant rest but arriving at the bothy at 23:30 I was both mentally and physical spent so I decided on a few hours of rest. Some familiar faces from earlier in the day quickly cured my wavering mental state and after 2 hours of sleep my legs felt as good as… well, slightly used, so I set off back out into the night with the hope that the sunrise wasn’t too far away.
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| A view of the descent off Cairn Toul via the Loch Uaine waterfall |
Having already passed the Derry Lodge (CP10) I was making good progress and found myself on top of The Devil’s Point (CP11) by 05:30 as the sky began to lighten. The positivity was soon sucked out of me though as the freezing wind & rain started up again while hop-scotching the boulders up to Cairn Toul (CP11). From here, the difficulties worsened, with a stumble down to the foot of Loch Uaine (CP12) through the ankle snapping scree slopes. The final wet, grimy and rather sketchy scramble down through the slabs of limestone to the valley floor left me pretty ruined.
After yet another wrestle with a swollen river emerging from the top of the Lairig Ghru I faced what would be my final major climb of the run. The bulking mass of Ben Macdui (CP13) sprawled out into the clouds above me as I began the steady monotonous trudge up the slope. Once on the summit, I tagged the trig point and headed down the eastern slopes towards Glen Avon trying my best to force my brain into making a reasoned decision about route choice. Unfortunately, my brain flailed and I veered off the path towards Derry Cairngorm (CP14) leaving me only 6 hours to get to the big score summit of Cairn Gorm and back to Braemar. Slowly realising the mistake I felt slightly stupid (but internally relieved) that I had to abandon the summit and extra 600 m of climb. Down the valley via Loch Etchachan (CP15) to the Fords of Avon Refuge (CP16) my legs swiftly began to give in on me and I struggled to concentrate on the spectacularly remote mountain surroundings. But in my head the pain was over, I had a full 4.5 hours to run a flat-ish 30 km back to the finish, the home straight.
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| Loch Avon and my abandoned route up to Cairn Gorm |
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| A picturesque scene from Glen Quoich despite my anger at the terrain |
I slowly rolled through the miles into Glen Derry and stopped for a rest at the bridge a couple of KMs up from Derry Lodge. My plan was to quickly head up and over the eastern ridge and drop into Glen Quoich to bag the Punchbowl (CP17) on the way in – 3.5 hours to go. The route over was brutal. Endless heather and bogs slowed progress to a walk and by the time I hit another path I’d used up over an hour and a half to make it less than 3 km. I needed to recharge but I had no choice – I’d given myself 1 hour and 40 minutes to run a flat 16km back to the finish, a pace I would struggle with after any weekend long run. So I just put my head down, opened my stride and flung everything I had at the last few miles with the hope of a quick 30s breather at the Punchbowl. With bleeding lungs and only 6 minutes to spare I made it back to Braemar Village Hall (CP18) only just holding on to overall first place.
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| First place at the finish |
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| Feeling pretty physically and mentally done |
Totals:
29 hours and 55 minutes
144.7 km total distance
5814 m total ascent
Link to Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2671641410
Type 2 Fun Run: https://www.type2ultra.co.uk/
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