I don't know what it is about Ultra Races but there is something just ..... a bit more special about them. This was to be my 4th one this year and 4th Ultra ever. 5th if you want to include an unofficial 33 mile run from Portobello to Dunbar.

Yet every one of them have been so very different, Perhaps that is part of the attraction to entering them. Different times of the year? Different distances? Point to point? Loops? Terrain? Scenery? The options go on and on and even if i were to return to the same race the following year it would be totally different from the previous one. I would be thinking differently, changing things around, training differently etc.

Because i'm new to Ultra racing, i would use different tactics with every race, i'm learning loads and loads at every Ultra and the important thing for me is to remember what to do next time to make things better or easier for myself.

For the Perth 24 Hour Endurance Race, i got up around 5am, that gave me plenty time to go through my checklist and have breakfast. Caroline goes to every race with me which is amazing. I'm fortunate to have such a big supporter who actually wants to be there but this was also going to be very long 24 hours for Caroline too. For some reason at 6am i had the notion to take pasta with me so i could have some of that as a snack whilst running. "Caroline, do you think you could............" Well of course she moaned, who wouldn't at that time of morning with such short notice but she still very kindly made it for me because she would do anything for me if i thought it was going to help me for the next 24 hours.

There was no chance of me taking my car to drive down from Perth after the race, i would be way too tired to do anything so it was arranged my dad would come down to Melrose to pick us up and drive us there. From my house Perth is about a 2 hour drive north so we left as close to 7am as possible, that would give me around an hour to get myself ready before our race started at 10am.

En route, we picked up another runner, Sandra McDougall in Edinburgh. At the last minute Sandra decided to enter the 50km race in Perth. For anyone wondering why did she not enter the 24 hr race, the answer to me was simple. She had run the Speyside Ultra the previous weekend from which i gather was a great event and decided 50km was far enough this weekend - Back to back Ultras?? I've never heard the likes. It was great travelling up with Sandra, full of information and advice, i've learned a lot from her and i know if i ever need to question anything i could just ask her for the answer.

It was an absolutely beautiful warm morning in Perth, already sunny and not a breeze to be felt. Ok that's enough for the tourists. For me it was way too warm!

I got myself registered for the race, there were 31 names on the starting list for the 24 hr event, picked up my numbers and time chip, had my last snack and drink and was more or less ready for the start. We had a quick runners briefing, pointing out one or two rules that had to be obeyed and then we were ready for the off at 10am.

This race was to take place round a simple 1.48 mile lap of the North Inch Park, all on a pathway. This was the first thing i had to get my head round. I chose to run this one for a charity, Alzheimers Scotland, and that was to be my inspiration. Most runners would hate running laps, especially short ones. I set myself a personal target to run 100 miles within the 24 hours, i haven't run this distance before so to do it first time of asking would be amazing. For me to achieve this i would have to complete 68 laps of the course!!

Final photos taken at the start line and we were away at the hooter at 10am sharp.

I think i should point out right now that anyone hoping for a lap by lap account of what happened better finish off their popcorn now because my memory just can't handle such information and too many laps would be similar.

We got a good cheer on the off as there was runners arriving for the 50k and 100k which started 2 hours later at midday.

I decided not to carry my bottle belt until lap 2 or 3 when i would be needing to take in fluids. I wouldn't need to take in much but sipping little and often was going to be the tactic. I would find out soon enough if im not taking in enough by the amount of toilet breaks i had.

Soon i got talking to some other runners, most of the ones i spoke to were great, others need to get their heads out their arses and be less ignorant. There again, that's always going to be the way with runners or sporty people in general. A quick acknowlegement goes a long way...

Because the plan was to be out for 24 hours, there was no hurry to talk to anyone immediately and obviously most of the talk was running concerned. I ran at a pace allowing me to meet up with a small group running together. One of them was Robert, a lovely chap running in Portobello colours, who i got on well with. I think at one stage we were talking about energy gels and electrolytes and which ones we use etc, another runner who was with us piped up stating the fact that he doesn't use these 'manufactured products' as God hadn't invented them. The first thing i did was look down at his feet to see if he was running in sandals (he wasn't). Now for anyone who knows me, i always blurt out the first thing that comes in my head - like it or lump it - and i replied to him "i don't suppose God had tried running a 100 miles either". I think Robert stifled a snigger at that point, either that or he was blowing away some snot. Well he finished the 24 hour race but i reckon he must have walked 80% of it. Hmmmmm........

We ran on chatting for a while longer but everytime we got back to the tent area at the start/finish line some runners would stop for a few seconds to pick up a snack or drink and then we would be on our own again or chatting to someone else.

Soon it was heading towards midday, it was just a few minutes before the start of the 50k and 100k races. At this stage i was chatting to Lorna McLean, another nutter i have the privilage of knowing. I might be a little inaccurate but i think she has run four 24 hour events previously and this was to be her fifth attempt at breaking 100 miles. We heard the chap on the tannoy from the far side of the park and if our timing was bad, we were going to be running through them all as they lined up at the start. Thankfully, they were away just before us. My race was going well and i was running ahead of my personal schedule. I was trying to gain some time in the bank because i knew i would be needing it towards the end of the race when i was tired and drained. At least that was my tactics. For me it's not possible to maintain a constant pace of 14 minute laps. I worked out i would be allowed a maximum of 20 minute laps in order to achieve 100 miles in 24 hours so every 14 minute laps would give me 6 minutes banked.

Throughout the afternoon, we could see there was going to be a football match and a rugby match played. It's a strange thing when you're running in circles to catch a bit of both games. The players were gathering, warming up, first half, half time, second half, full time and away they went and in all that time i was still running.....

After around 30 laps in, i was having terrible stomach cramps, the ones i have are really bad and even walking for a while relieves it, going into a run brings it straight back again. I had to think what i could do to make it go away. So i worked out i wasn't hungry and i have been drinking plenty as i had been sweating a lot in the mid afternoon heat so there was only one thing it could be. Salt. I lose a lot of salt when i sweat but it wasn't being replaced quick enough. Back at the 'tented village' i had brought a bag of salted peanuts so every lap for the next three or four laps i would take some nuts and before i knew it the cramps had disappeared.

It was great that throughout the day, various family and friends would turn up and show support/heckle - not just for me but for everyone else they knew too. Amongst them were Kevin and Lynn who were running in the Glasgow Half Marathon the following day, the Shanksi's family were there too for a good while, Faither,Flip, Debs, Gill, Sue ..... the list just goes on. Brilliant. Debs wanted to run with me for a lap or two but was advised against it as it was against the rules. Shame really.

A lot of people wanted me to update my Facebook status on a regular basis to let them know how i was doing but i couldn't do that so it was arranged for Caroline to text Sai and in turn Sai would update my status for me. I suppose i was leaving myself wide open for abuse/insults/heckling by allowing Sai to do this but she would just say she was trying to inspire me!!

Sandra had just finished her race. She managed to bag 2 medals and a trophy for her efforts. Brilliant. But she has her own blog for you to read about ;-) Yet, as i was passing runners and as runners were passing me it was like "Psst, did you hear about Sandra?" Talk about being popular!

Around laps 30 to 40 was a struggle for me, i have no idea what it was, possibly just being the middle of the race where not a lot was happening and of course the routine was there. I was somewhere around 1hr and 40 minutes up on my schedule and it had been like that for a while now which was brilliant. It was strange to see a small number of runners lap me on a regular basis and yet as time went on i was also lapping one or two runners. The lesson there of course is everyone is running their own race with their own targets.

Darkness had arrived and it was overcast which was good as this would keep the temperatures up throughout the night. If the cloud cover had cleared by dawn then things would be a bit different as it would be a lot colder then i would be thinking about another full change of clothing to take all my sweaty stuff off and adding an extra layer.

There was an 'incident' which happened around midnight. This is something i have thought long and hard about whether to include it in this blog or not. Not a nice incident but i have decided not to write anything in this blog about it. Some people already know what happened and i think that's all i need to say on this matter as i'm sure it will be sorted for the next time.

There were a lot more people walking now, some enforced and some just to gather more energy for later. This was a good time for me to get my ipod out to listen to, i wasn't really wanting to talk to anyone for a while, just happy to plod on. Robert appeared to be struggling a bit but as he said himself, he was still moving in a forward direction. His spirits were good and i just knew he would be staying for the duration.

Up to around lap 50, and the double act got involved in keeping my spirits up with their brand of 'encouragement' - Karen Donoghue and George Reid. To be honest, they had been great throughout the whole race, they were encouraging everyone they knew and more. They would be walking round parts of the course asking if i was ok and do i need anything. But back at the tented village, they saw i was flagging more than i had been throughout the day, naturally, and the banter would come out, "you still here" or "what have you stopped for now?" or i would be clearing some rubbish away from our table as slowly as i could then Karen would appear and chase me away.. really was sooo funny. The other bullying tactic was when Karen noticed Caroline was having a power-nap. "Chris don't you dare stop this lap or you will wake Caroline up", so i ran on for another 3 or so laps until she woke up! What wasn't funny was when they came out with hot bacon rolls. Karen actually offered me one but sure as hell she would just chase me off if i said yes!!

A couple of more laps gone and as i was drinking a coffee, i heard a thud from behind me, we all looked round to see a runner lying on his back having tripping over a water drain cover. Some people quickly went over and brought him back to his feet before you could say 'arse'. What was so funny about that was i don't think he was even given the chance to say anything like, ouch my back hurts or, i've twisted my ankle - he was hauled up and that was that. Ha ha, very slight things were making me laugh now.

It was still dark and i still had my ipod playing, running along the back stretch of the route was the darkest and it's great when you have some inspiring music to listen to but on one particular lap i burst out laughing again. You see, i transferred our entire cd collection onto my ipod so i wouldn't run out of music to listen to but running in the dark at 4am listening to Edelweiss!!!! Unfortunately my ipod was tucked away in a plastic bag to keep it dry in my waist bag and it was just too much effort to fast forward it to next track. Doohhhhhh....

I'm back round for more snacks and whilst i was stuffing it down my neck, Caroline went a bit quiet, i can tell she was thinking something. "You're only about 30 minutes ahead of your schedule now" she informs me "Eh? How did that happen in the space of around 3 or 4 laps?" Wow, that was a wake up call if i needed one. So off i went for another 4 or 5 miles until i spoke to her the next time. Then she said "By my calculations you're about 1 hour and 40 minutes ahead of schedule so i must have mis-counted" Bliddy Hell!! Where am i? What's going on? I wasn't caring, i was still way ahead of time. Dawn had arrived and she was looking absolutely amazing this morning.......................... No, scrub that. Dawn had arrived and so there was no need for glow sticks or head torches anymore so it must have been around 6.30am and you know, as i was running round the back straight again, i could swear someone had been out in a tractor in the middle of the night to cut the grass! There were loads of grass cuttings with the smell of freshly cut grass. How amazing! Obviously it hadn't been cut but i was getting tired now. A few more words from Karen. "Remember Chris, we can see the far side of the course now that it's daylight so i will see if you're walking or running" Yep, cheers for that Karen.....

Must be somewhere around 6.45am and between myself and Caroline, we somehow worked out that i had one more lap to complete before i got to the 100 mile marker. So i ran round the next one and as i was passing the timekeepers tent, i asked them to confirm how many laps until i'm on the 68th lap. "3 more laps" one of them answered. Wow, my heart sunk, we were useless at working things out when we're tired, but it was still funny all the same.

Finally i was on my 68th lap. The 100 mile marker was away at the far end of the course. By this time, family and friends were turning up to see me complete the 100 miles. It was arranged that they would cut across the park to where the marker is and i would run as slowly as possible so they would be there before me (not a problem i thought).

10 minutes later and i've DONE IT! One Hundred Miles completed at 8.57am or 22 hours and 57 minutes to get there. We had stopped at the sign for a few photos and a bit of a carry on and a laugh but it was a great feeling. So fecking proud of myself. After we were done, the gang walked back to the tents but Lesley, my niece walked with me round the course back to the start/finish line for company. I hope that wasn't a form of coaching which wasn't allowed.

The announcer was back on the mike again and spotted me running past the post and they all gave me huge welcome which was a bit embarrassing and he asked me if i was going to carry on for the final 50 minutes of the race. There was no chance. I honestly was struggling at that point. I would have liked to have run 105.8 miles, that would have made it 4 marathons in 24 hours, my next target but in my head, i wasn't going to manage it without really punishing myself. I quit!

I had a few more hand shakes, sweaty hugs, and was assisted to a seat. The first time i had sat down since we arrived in Perth the previous morning. As requested, a very cold can of beer was given to me and it tasted just brilliant. I will also admit, after drinking half the can, i felt pissed!!!

Karen and George were there to primarily support Jane MacAskill, another 'nutter' who was there for the 24 hours. If i can do half as well as she is doing now when i get to her age then i will be a very happy runner. Just prior to my 68th lap (i think), Jane had just beaten her pb of 80 miles and as i was drinking a cold beer she was still going and she ran to the hooter at 10am. Truely remarkable.

10am had arrived and there were a variety of emotions going on from all the finishers. Not all good and not all bad.

I said there and then - Never again - but as Lesley was driving us home when i was falling in and out of a sleep, i thought it's only every second year this event takes place.

Maybe......... Just maybe....