What is the Glenmore 24?

Competitors (or, in my case, participants) have 24 hours to run as many 6.3km laps as they can within 24 hours, stopping as much or as little as they want. There is also a 12 hour version.

Where is it?

The event is run from the Hayfield at Glenmore, mostly on the good forest tracks on the south side of Loch Morlich. There’s a hill about half way round.

Why did I enter?

After the Dava Way Ultra I said I’d never do another Marathon or Ultra but it occurred to me that the format of this race lent itself to a different approach. Rather than considering it as one long run, I could break it up into 3-lap stints and thereby “sneak up” on an Ultra. I also love running in the dark so I was looking forward to that part. My goal was to complete 9 laps (57km) - thereby surpassing my longest ever run.

How did it go?

With my campervan parked at the Hayfield I was able to run pretty much unencumbered, only carrying some drink, an emergency blanket and my phone. In training I’d previously run 4 laps so I was aware of where the hills were and how much I’d likely be walking (a lot) - it’s a long game after all. I did my first stint and was prepared to sit around for a couple of hours but actually headed out after only one hour. That scenario repeated itself twice and by 9:15 I’d already completed the 9 laps. Facing almost 15 hours of possible inactivity, and having only had 25 minutes or so in the dark, I decided to head out again for another couple of laps. With those done, I thought “what the hell” and ran a 3rd. Then, realising one more would get me to 50 miles, I headed out for a 4th. By this time I was beginning to get some sore toes and suspected a couple of toenails might be in jeopardy.

As it was now after 1am, I decided I’d head back to the van for a decent nap, hoping to get another 3 or 4 laps afterwards. However, I was informed by the Race Director that he was thinking of suspending the race due to high winds, particularly affecting the various gazebos and shelters in the Hayfield. The decision was to be made at 2am so I stayed awake until then and was then told that the race was suspended until 5am, awaiting an improvement in the weather. That didn’t happen so it was called off completely.

I was really happy to get 13 laps in - 83km - though a little disappointed that I didn't have the opportunity to get to 100km. If I’d known in advance that I’d only have 14 hours to run then I wouldn’t have stopped for 3 hours of that! However, safety first and I think it was the correct decision to call it off.

Recommended?

Yes. Breaking it down into smaller chunks made it seem a lot less daunting so the format worked for me. I didn’t invest quite so much time training as I would have if it had been an 80km race at the outset.

The organisation was very good, the route clearly signposted and easy to follow, there was a real party atmosphere passing through the Hayfield on every lap and the other participants were very social, making some of the walking parts less tedious.