Race Report: Highland 8-hour Challenge

Having heard positive reports about the Tentsmuir Forest 8-hour Challenge from Jamie and Olivia who ran it last year, and as part of their training for the Devil o’ The Highlands, four people took on the Highland version last weekend.

The name gives away the format… you run as far as you can in 8 hours! The course is a loop of 4.366 miles so 3 laps = Half Marathon; 6 laps = Marathon; 7 laps = Ultra!

Shelagh

I’d been thinking about doing a looped race for a while and when this one landed during our planned holiday week in Aviemore there was no decision to be made - I was in.

The Highland 8 Hour Challenge is a fabulous route through the forest with the snowy mountains as a backdrop and with 4 Beacon runners taking part there was lots of camaraderie and opportunities to cheer each other on. We all managed to catch up with each other at various points on the route and during fuel stops at “Beacon HQ” (our club gazebo which was set up in the base camp area).

I felt pretty strong for the first 6 laps and was using running poles for the first time in a race. I only used them for the long uphill on each lap which also gave me the chance to practice getting them out and in my running vest multiple times. I switched on my music when things started to get tough and made the sensible decision to finish after 9 laps. My energy levels were pretty good so think I got my fuelling just about right but definitely didn’t drink enough. It all added to the learning experience in preparation for the next race!

Simon

Really well organised event. Parked where you started run. So good to have fellow Beacons too. Treated very much as a training run and did distance on my plan which was 26 miles. I ran with El for 5 laps, which was the best part just gaining insights and sharing stories then for my last lap went solo. Happy to see my first and last laps where same time which bodes well for the Devil next month. Lovely to have Shelagh catch and chat with me, and El, and felt so happy to unexpectedly catch up with Rory too. Just a magical day. Drove up and down in same day.

Rory

I’ve not exactly being doing enough long distance recently but with the Devil on the horizon I needed a kick up the @rse and this seemed like a great fun way to get some miles in in a great location with aide on hand and support to get me round. I went up the night before and stayed in a hotel nearby to minimise the faff in the morning but still managed to find plenty faffing to do with the gazebo! Huge thanks to Gavid Davidson for his help with that.

I set off with the intention of walking the hill every time and doing a lap an hour. I felt pretty good for the first 4 laps and was well up on the plan. Flagging a little I picked up my drone to distract myself on lap 5... I slogged through lap 6 with the marathon distance in sight... then I picked up my running poles and tried a quick(ish) walk for a 7th and final lap.

I was really pleased to get to 30.5 miles (the longest distance I'd run in 9 years!) but definitely didn’t take enough food on so need to sort that out if I'm going to try 42 miles next month!

In the end...

Shelagh did an amazing job completing 9 laps / 39.5 miles and finished 5th Female. Rory did 7 laps / 30.5 miles. El and Simon both did 6 laps / 26.2 miles.

Interested?

For anyone who'd like to try an event like this, there are plently other opportunities (the exact same format but different venues)... if you’re curious ask someone who's done one and check out Nu Limits Running at Facebook and Entry Central. Remeber you can do any distance you like... no pressure to run for all 8 hours or an ultra distance! It's a great, low pressure way to challenge yourself without having to spend hours alone on the coastal path or up the Binn!