My legs are saying "stop", but the mind is saying "no chance".
Hello and a very warm welcome to The Adventure Show.
This month, we're taking in the majesty of west Scotland, from
Milngavie on the outskirts of Glasgow all the way to Fort William.
This is the one and only Ronhill West Highland Way Race.
They're looking great. You're looking really strong.
That's because the end is near.
The race is 95 miles long.
That is three and a half marathons
nonstop and back-to-back.
So, however you look at this, it's one long, tough race.
The big challenge is in the head, it's keeping going.
It's keeping putting one foot in front of the other time after time.
When it hurts, keeping going.
Then it's going to hurt more than that and they still have
to keep going.
The action starts in the dead of night when all the pubs
are closed and most people are nicely tucked up in their bed.
But our competitors are now gathering to do a race
that will take most people a week to walk.
There's quite a bit of ascent and descent.
About 15,000 feet across the whole route.
Some very runnable bits,
but it is pretty constant.
And just being out for such a long time takes its toll on the body.
Our course record is just over 14 hours.
It is still a long time for anyone to be out and there are
people right up to 35 hours going to be out there.
That was tough, that one. At least you're going downhill for a while. Aye!
Also in this month's Adventure Show,
we're investigating the medical issues of extreme exercise.
People get overloaded with water.
It makes you susceptible to swelling of the tissues,
most notably the brain.
At the extreme end, you can succumb from this.
In spite of that, I'm girding my loins in another gruelling
training session in preparation for the Braveheart triathlon.
And Duncan is discovering that you can have
a fantastic adventure even when the weather is atrocious.
You really have to concentrate on this stuff.
But first to the West Highland Way Race.
It starts at one in the morning, with the best runners finishing
this incredible 95-mile race in around 14 to 15 hours.
Others will be running for 35 hours.
That is a whole day and a half.
Evening, folks, I'm sure we've got another fantastic race ahead.
Statistically, if you are standing here ready to run tonight,
you've done the hard bit because most people drop out of this
race before it starts than get here and don't finish.
So remember that when it gets tough later on.
I know it is going to be absolutely awful and worse than that.
I've watched people over the last two or three years coming in
in different states and I've seen what they're coming in like
and I'm intrigued just to what I'm going to be like.
They talk about hallucinations. I'm dying to see what I hallucinate.
You go through fantastic highs,
terrible lows.
And if you put one foot in front of another you eventually do
something that you thought was impossible.
It is actually my wedding anniversary today and I've
spent it down here getting ready to run.
I'll see my husband tomorrow at Beinglas!
The route starts here in Milngavie on the outskirts of Glasgow.
It heads north to Drymen and the first ascent over Conic Hill.
Then it is along the shores of Loch Lomond through Tyndrum
and on to Bridge Of Orchy.
Here the hard work really starts.
20-odd miles over Rannoch Moor and up the Devil's Staircase before
a taxing descent into Kinlochleven.
But there is a sting in the tail.
A demanding 14 final miles before the finish line at Fort William.
So with just a few seconds to go, these runners now face 95 miles
of some of the roughest, most rugged terrain in the Highlands.
A fantastic race,
a great event and the heroes will be all who take part and finish.
So this is it, no more time for training,
preparation or second thoughts.
KLAXON BLARES
So with head torches on, the race is underway.
15 hours for the fastest, 35 hours for the slowest.
This is an incredible event requiring great skill
and determination.
Up they go up the steps out of Milngavie.
CHEERING
They've got a few miles up through towns and houses and then into
the long drag into the wilderness - a long, dark night of running.
Entries to the West Highland Way Race are restricted to 200 folk.
And, as usual, there is a full house.
This is one of Scotland's most prestigious events.
Many come back year after year and it is about far more than
running nonstop for 95 miles.
In 2005 I missed the race because
I had a brain haemorrhage,
but I was back in 2006, a year later,
to tick the box of being back to full health.
In 2013, I was diagnosed with mouth cancer.
In 2014 I was back again to race for the 10th time.
It was something that kept my head up all the way through
treatment and I'm back again for the 12th time.
Running the race is a celebration of health,
fitness and love of friends and just to be here with everyone.
The West Highland Way Race is addictive.
Adrian Stott from Edinburgh has finished a staggering 14 times.
If he completes it this year, he will be the joint record holder.
West Highland Way is just a magical event.
As someone who has always been drawn to challenges,
and trying to get out of my comfort zone,
the intensity of trying to do it in the time limit is fascinating.
See you shortly. OK.
When you are running, especially in the hills and in the mountains,
you just suddenly realise that time is going by and you are
tapping into something really deep inside of yourself and when
you tap into that energy inside yourself,
it's like when you're seven years old and your mum
had to drag you in because you wanted to play out all night.
You have to try and engender that attitude of being a little child.
Running these sort of distances,
you just realise how small you are in this universe.
The oldest competitor this year is 70.
Rob Reid lives at the halfway point of the race and takes an
unusual perspective of the first 53 miles.
I like to think of this event as being a race
that starts at Tyndrum,
and, by the way, I've got to get to Tyndrum first.
I will jog gently along to get to Tyndrum to start the real race.
It's just something that I do for fun. It's like holidays.
It's the build-up to it, the anticipation.
It's something you are looking forward to for weeks and
weeks and weeks. Then it is the enjoyment afterwards.
It's something to talk about and share experiences with other people.
It is fun. Enjoy the sunrise. Barely need the head torch. Hello.
THEY LAUGH
I'll see you later. Well done.
Most of the runners have now completed the first segment of
the race and have passed the village of Drymen.
12 miles down, a mere 83 to go.
I just built up to it gradually.
So I've built up from 10ks to half marathons,
marathons and thought that the ultra marathons were crazy,
and it was only super, super fit human beings that could manage it.
Then, I decided to try one and thoroughly enjoyed it.
You never know what kind of adventure lies ahead of you.
I know this trail like the back of my hand now, so it will be nice to
not have to think about navigation
or anything like that and
just focus on running steady and not going off too fast.
Running steady and running a smart race.
So much depends on your mental state of mind as well.
If you let yourself be affected by different factors,
it's amazing once you start struggling, you lose time so fast.
Time seems to move in a different way.
People say there's times when you get low and you come through that.
I've got to keep that in the back of my mind that it may be tough
but if I keep going and maybe have to slow down, maybe walk a bit,
and then hopefully I'll regain some strength and feel better.
But, I think you have to recognise, it is the same for everybody
whether you are at the front or at the back of the race.
It's going to be tough.
I'm just a short distance along the course, ready to greet
the first competitors as they arrive at Conic Hill.
By now they will have completed almost 15 miles and for some,
this would be the end of a half marathon.
But these guys and girls, it's just the warm-up.
At the moment,
very little separates the leading runners in this international field.
American Kris Brown, is currently out in front, but he is
closely followed by Scottish athletes
James Stewart and Alistair Gray.
With Adam Zahoran from Germany in fourth place.
I'm the German champion of six hours running and 100km running,
but mostly I run on tarmac asphalt roads and flat,
so I don't have too much experience in hills.
So I don't know what I can run. I am bit afraid, a bit nervous.
Spectacular, huh? It is amazing, are you enjoying it? Oh, yes, for sure.
And you have come over from America? You bet.
Just to do this race? You bet. Fantastic.
Hal Koerner from Oregon has competed
in over 100 ultra marathons
and stood on the podium more than 90 times.
So it is not surprising
he is one of the favourites for today's race.
I love ultra running and I love to be able to run in the
mountains for hours on end. That was life for me.
Adding a little competition to that,
getting to see some new places, meeting great people,
and just the accomplishment of it all is really hard to replicate.
Addicting to a certain degree as well.
Currently out in the lead for the women, Lizzie Wraith is
just 19 minutes behind the fastest man.
And she is in 11th place overall.
How are you doing? Good, thank you.
You are doing fantastically. Thanks.
I'm not really aiming for a time, I'm just looking forward to
getting out in the mountains with a group of like-minded people.
It is a fantastic running community here in Scotland.
I just think that I race better when I go out there with the
attitude of trying to enjoy it.
Let's see what happens, it's just running. What will be will be.
If I put too much pressure on myself I don't think I run at my best.
Morning. Well done, you are doing great.
Cheers, thank you.
And every single runner in this event is competing not only
against each other, but also against themselves.
I was trying to beat 19 hours last year,
I felt really good until about a mile out of Balmaha.
I took a really bad fall, came down really heavy on my knee.
It was so painful I could hardly even stand on my leg, but my
first thought was get moving, if I don't move it's going to stiffen.
So I just started walking on it.
As the pain eased slightly,
I started to get my speed up.
As long as I ran, the pain numbed.
So last year was a bit of a disaster time-wise
but I got my finish, so last year I got a decanter.
After ten, when you do your tenth you get a decanter.
So I wasn't going home without that decanter!
15 miles down, only another 80 to go.
The frontrunners are making really great progress,
and most of the field are still to come through here. We'll be back
on the West Highland Way shortly,
as the racers settle in to the many, many hours running ahead of them.
It's going to be a long couple of days.
The West Highland Way Race started over three decades ago.
It all began when runner Duncan Watson laid down a challenge
to the well-known athlete Bobby Shields.
They created the race we know today.
We met up with Duncan near his home in the Monadhliath mountains.
Back in '85, the mud was really quite oppressive.
I mean, there was thigh-deep mud.
I remember pulling Bobby out of a hole.
On the other side of Conic Hill.
He was right up to his waist.
Well, that's all now been nicely barred and stepped.
There was no steps on the far side of Conic Hill, that was really...
We were on our backsides most of the time, coming down the hill there.
We cut short from Lunn Da-Brha, took the shorter road down,
because they were felling trees.
And the tracks, you're talking two or three miles shorter, probably,
but that would be counteracted by the underfoot conditions.
Both Duncan and Bobby had run the route before,
and completed it in under 20 hours.
But racing against each other brought in extra pressure.
At the bottom of the Devil's Staircase, Allt-na-feadh, I said,
"Look, I'm feeling really bad!"
And he said he was feeling really bad as well, so, I said,
"Why don't we make it a joint effort, right? Eh?
"And really dig in here. Because we could
"help one another rather than work against one another."
So we shook hands, and that was it.
Together, the pair reached Fort William in 17 hours and 48 minutes.
And Duncan's now run the West Highland Way over 15 times,
often doing it solo.
He's now 73, and in spite of some recent medical problems,
he still runs every day.
Because I was raised in central Scotland, son of a butcher,
we ate a lot of red meat and pies and all the bad things
before I started running.
Then when I started running I changed my diet totally.
Bad living resulted in some build-up of stuff in an artery,
so they put a stent in and I was running the next day.
Running in countryside like this,
it's just... It just gives me a big high.
The guy said if I hadn't been so fit I'd probably have been dead 30 years ago.
Yeah, I guess running's given me that!
I actually only finished the race twice.
But I haven't got a goblet yet, now.
Next year, do you think?
And if Duncan does decide to compete again next year,
he'll almost certainly be the oldest person to take part in the race.
Right now, though, we're taking a break from running,
because Duncan McCallum's got his very own challenge,
that should test him to the limit on a wild, wet and windy day.
I'm here in the west coast fishing village of Mallaig.
The bike's all lubed, it's all pumped up,
and I'm ready for a bit of a biking adventure. But,
although there are some fantastic trails in the hillside around here,
I'm looking for something just a little bit more special.
I'm here to meet Billy Simmonds, and we're going to head up Loch Nevis
into the best scenery in Scotland,
to look for some of the most
inaccessible mountain biking in the country.
And you can only get there by boat.
Hey, Billy! Duncan! Pleased to meet you.
Wow, I was expecting something a bit bigger than this!
She's fit for purpose. You'll be surprised what this wee ship can do.
Billy Simmonds spent 25 years as a trawlerman,
but recently decided to put that behind him
and do something he's passionate about.
'It was a big decision to take. It was a big gamble to take, too.
'A big risk. I was secure, I was good at what I did.
'I knew where I was going. But it was just consuming my life.
'My life was just becoming about making money.
'So I just decided I wanted to make the change and
'do something I wanted to do in life, not what I had to do.
'I was always projecting myself 15 years into the future.
'What am I going to be like? What am I going to be doing?
'Am I just going to be wandering up and down the pier?
'Because the fishing is hard. It accelerates your age.'
You have to think of your wellbeing, too.
So I thought, where do I want to be in 15, 20 years' time?
Is this what I want to be doing?
So I just wanted to build something unique to me.
Billy's a highly talented mountain biker,
so he set up an adventure sports company.
But one with a difference.
Using his boat, he's able to get right off the beaten track.
Just over an hour after the trip began,
he and Duncan are now in the heart of Moidart.
So where do we go from here? I can see there's an old ruin
just there at the bottom of the glen.
We'll exit to the left of that,
and we'll pick up a meandering stalker's trail.
It's really steep!
It's gonna test you, it'll test most people.
Three quarters of the way up, you're going to be wishing you
hadn't done it. But once we get to the top,
it's going to be a different story.
We're escaping from this horrific weather.
The weather chooses us.
Too philosophical for me!
This is Scotland. So is this the start, now, of the hike-a-bike?
Yes, that's us. That's as far as we're going to pedal at the moment.
We've got our 500 metre hike-a-bike.
Don't kid yourself, this is mountain biking.
Shanks's pony on your feet is the preferred way,
it's the most natural way,
so entering the mountain bike, it's another challenge.
And it's just so rewarding on the opposite side.
Once we start coming down these descents,
it's the feeling of freedom.
Nearly there, Duncan. Nearly there. Can you feel it?
Oh, I can, the wind... You can feel the... The atmosphere.
The wind has changed,
and there's a wee drop of pressure or something, it's different.
It's this last few metres,
you can really feel that the summit's coming.
To engage in this sort of wilderness,
you're out here, you're by yourself,
you're basically on your own,
and you've got to get out here on your own.
So, compared to what you're going to
experience in most places in Scotland,
it's well up there.
What I would love to do here is just spend a bit of time on my own,
and you're planning to shoot off and meet us at the bottom?
My plan is to abandon yous, and I'll get the grub ready down there.
Just ride it, gently, don't get too carried away.
There's a few bits where you can go over the bars.
I don't think I'm going to hang around here too long,
because it is really cold.
I think this is a careful-as-you-go one.
Oh, man, oh, man!
As an adventure bike ride, this is something else.
It's really tough.
Eight of ten for commitment,
nine out of ten for adventure,
ten out of ten for being in an extraordinary place.
You really have to concentrate on this stuff.
A fat bike like this floats on top of all the mud
and the dirt...
..and through the water, but it's heavy.
They were originally designed for riding in snow,
so you wanted a tyre that would float above the snow.
But it also works really nicely for Scottish bogs and water
and sand and on horrible slidey conditions, and on rock,
where a tyre would normally just sit on the rock and skip off.
It's quite remarkable how grippy it is.
Huge disadvantage going uphill, because the resistance is so much.
On the descent it's really good.
Way-hey!
Ha! Oh...
Oh, dear. Poor Duncan. Pride before a fall, and all that.
This is a bike ride Duncan is not likely to forget in a hurry.
Oh, I have to say, the top part of that
in the weather was something else,
it really was tough. I went over the handlebars,
fell in a ditch,
walked lots of it.
But now, this last bit,
coming down into the village is absolutely beautiful.
This is an amazing, amazing place.
And this is an incredible adventure bike ride.
And we'll be joining Duncan for more off-road adventures
later in the series.
But after Moidart, they'll have a lot to live up to.
Hiya. Welcome back to the West Highland Way Race,
where the sun is just beginning to rise.
And what a beautiful view it is for the competitors,
as they race down past Conic Hill.
Oh, Loch Lomond, we love you.
So, do you guys know this route already?
Have you done this race before?
I did this last year. It's kind of like childbirth!
I know what it's going to be like, but still back again!
I ran with a couple of girls from my running club last year,
and we stayed together for the first 50 miles
and chatted!
It's like a day out!
Some people have wine, coffee, cake.
We just ran.
Our club, Stonehaven Running Club,
there's a lot of people in the club do ultras,
and we've all been sort of gradually pulled into it,
supporting each other and gradually
getting a bit further and a bit further,
doing longer races each year and
most of my friends have now done it, so I have to!
I have to try.
Are we nearly at Fort William?
Well, here's the bad news.
There's just one or two miles still to go.
Right now, there's the rugged,
wooded shoreline of Loch Lomond to negotiate,
followed by an ascent of the north end of the loch.
It's 6.40 in the morning, and American runner Kris Brown
is still in the lead.
Can't sneak up on me like that, man!
How's it going? It's fine.
Enjoying it? Yeah, I hear it's beautiful.
Just eight minutes behind,
James Stewart from Croy is now in second place.
How are you feeling?
Yeah, not too bad.
Not too bad.
Worth it for this view.
The third to complete this section
is the German six-hour and 100km road champion
Adam Zahoran.
Enjoying it?
Ha-ha-ha! This section, not really, no!
'It will be a tough race for me,
'I will just try to do my best and be as fast as I can.
'I tried to find my own pace.'
I shouldn't be tired, physically or mentally, before 80, 90km.
Just after it.
The front racers are now starting to spread out.
40 minutes after the first man through,
Alistair Gray from Helensburgh is in fourth place.
How are you feeling? Great!
Good time. Getting there.
Slowly but surely.
It's the first time he's tackled this distance.
But that challenge is not the only reason he's running today.
He's also doing this for a member of his family.
My aunt is blind and when I'm out in these places, you know,
I do think myself quite lucky to be able to experience fully the
landscapes that I'm kind of going through.
And I often think of my aunt and people like her who just don't
have that same... That same experience that I have.
So it is an emotional thing for me, moving through these landscapes
and knowing that they'll never quite see it the way I do.
But that's not to say that blind people don't experience them,
it's just they do it in a different way, so my aunt, for example,
can sense when things are tall or when things are big or heavy,
just through, I suppose, a kind of subconscious osmosis and quite
often when I'm running, if you shut your eyes for just half a second,
you can smell the fields or you can smell the path and the trees,
or these things that you forget when you can see as well as we can.
In the women's race, the competition is heating up.
Lizzie Wraith from Bath is still in the lead.
You're doing great!
But just five minutes behind her is Morgan Windram-Geddes.
She grew up in America, but now lives in Fife.
Second-place lady, how are you feeling?
OK. Quite good.
No-one, apart from our poor camera person, is lingering here.
The Scottish problem is out in force.
Here you go, you'll like this.
This is the midges who've committed suicide on my
telephone screen, for some reason.
Ah, loving it!
The ones that eat you are making up for the ones that you eat.
Hello, again. Hello. How're you doing?
Brilliant, these midges are great!
Keep us running faster.
Further up the course,
there's bad news for two of the American runners.
Hal Coroner suffered an injury and has had to withdraw.
And Kris Brown, who was leading the race, has taken a wrong turn.
It's going to cost him precious minutes and will be
a real psychological downer.
That means Scotland's James Stewart has moved up into first place.
He's spent many hours of training on the West Highland Way,
but his success as an ultra marathon runner is recent.
It's actually almost happened overnight.
I was OK at ultra until about December 2014
when I brought on a coach and he's just lifted me to the next level.
It's kind of hard to believe yet because I'm, like,
40 years old, which is quite neat as well,
because it shows you're not too old to do something quite cool.
It's certainly looking cool for James today.
But as he pounds into Bridge of Orchy,
he knows Adam Zahoran's not far behind.
I came up through that section quite quick. You did, you did.
But just watch your way, you're way ahead of schedule, so...
I need to be though.
OK, good luck. Cheers.
Less than 15 minutes later, Adam makes it to this checkpoint.
This is where support teams are vital.
Want it tighter?
Er... I don't know.
He was meant to be a little bit insecure about the technical
aspects of the trails, so he didn't want to risk getting injured,
and that was a little bit mentally stressful for him.
It's a big adventure for him.
He said, "I have no idea how I can deal with it."
11 minutes later, Kris Brown has now dropped into third place.
His mistake has cost him over half an hour.
Well done. Well done.
You know, it really is easy to underestimate the extreme
nature of this challenge.
Despite enjoying a bacon roll or two,
I consider myself to be a fairly fit individual.
But the idea of keeping going at a decent pace for the best part
of two days...just fills me with horror.
And when you look at these competitors, they look like everyday people.
But there must be something going on in here, something that keeps them
going when their body is screaming at them, "Stop!"
If you've never run that far, it's scary.
You don't know what the body's going to do,
you don't really have experience of race conditions.
Like, yeah, you go for your training runs and you eat some stuff and
drink some stuff, but you try and put a bit of speed behind it and
the wheels fall off and you get upset and you say
you'll never do it again and you think
two days later, "No, I can do better."
And so you start again and around you go.
When I am going through a bad patch in the ultra, I make sure
that I take some fuel on board, because often, that might be part of
the reason, you're just running low on energy, and often I just tell
myself, the faster I keep running, the faster I'll get through it.
So it's definitely just being strong in your head
and not giving in to the pain.
Still leading the field for the women,
Lizzie Wraith is having an amazing run.
She's now in fourth place overall.
It's getting warm now.
There's a nice breeze. It's kind of perfect, really.
Good luck.
Meanwhile, Morgan Windram-Geddes is just over ten minutes behind.
Although they've covered over half the distance,
they're still nearly a marathon-and-a-half ahead.
Second lady, well done.
How you feeling? I'm all right. Knees are sore. Knees are sore.
All those downhills. Are they giving you water on one?
What else do you want in the other? Just half-and-half. OK.
Just keep eating as much as you can.
Morgan, especially at the start of the race, just doesn't eat,
so she's been eating a little bit, because she lost weight at
the first checkpoint and we had to get her to eat, so, yeah,
we've just been trying to get her to eat as much as possible.
Just keep walking and eating, yeah.
You're OK. CLAPPING
The third woman and 15th overall is experienced ultra runner
Lorna McMillan from Glasgow.
And after nearly 60 miles,
she looks like she's been out for an afternoon stroll.
Hiya. Hi, Lorna, how're you feeling? So you're going to eat then, aren't you, Lorna? Because...
Not too bad, not too bad.
Glad to be getting the miles behind me. It's getting quite warm out there.
Yeah, it's good. You're doing well. Looking forward to the next half?
Well, about a mile and a half up the hill, I'll get a Jelly Baby
in Jelly Baby Hill, so I'm looking forward to that.
I think I'm getting an orange one, so I'm delighted.
Apparently I've got to eat these and I'm not sure I feel like it.
Thank you, Carol.
The leaders have now passed the Glencoe Ski Centre and are
starting up the aptly named Devil's Staircase.
Ahead is a gruelling 1,000 feet of ascent.
Very tough now.
Two big hills coming up, so...
The last I heard, I had a 14-minute lead,
so I can go quite easy.
So I've got to stay disciplined and focus.
And I've allowed for my pace to walk up this hill.
There was four guys who went off like hunting dogs at the start.
There's no way I would go with them.
Because you know that it's going to come back to you.
But I managed to kind of get back in the lead at Bridge of Orchy.
And I've just been slowly building it since then.
Take it easy.
Yes, this is really good.
As James heads up to the top of the Staircase,
Adam's now starting the ascent.
How is your race going?
Yeah, it's pretty tough to be honest, but it's lovely scenery.
But I have to admit, I'm looking forward to finishing.
On the other hand, I'm a geologist, so it is a paradise for me.
Oh, it's time for a walk.
This race is now beginning to take its toll on everyone.
And Kris Brown, who took a wrong turn before Bridge of Orchy,
is slipping down the field.
That means Lizzie Wraith has moved up into third place.
Physically, she's putting in a fantastic performance.
But as a sports scientist,
she knows success depends on far more than fitness.
I definitely think ultra running is a lot in your mind.
Often, everything in your body is telling you to stop and
it's your mind that has to be strong enough to keep you going and keep
pushing and I always just try and tell myself to keep putting one foot
in front of the other, every step is a step closer to Fort William.
So, yeah, it's definitely mind over matter.
I think that ultra runners are a bit strange.
We probably do enjoy the pain of it.
Maybe not at the time, but certainly retrospectively.
There's something about pushing your limits and overcoming your fears
that's really satisfying in ultra running.
Someone else who's having a great race is Australian runner,
Jacob Tangey, who now lives in Edinburgh.
At the Glencoe Ski Centre, he was lying in seventh place.
Now, he's moved up to fourth.
How's things, mate? How's things with you?
Oh, yeah.
They're getting better! They're getting better, are they?
Every step! And now you're in fourth place.
Apparently so.
No, it doesn't matter in this race. Everybody's equal.
Come one, come all and enjoy the fun!
As the sun blazes down on the runners,
that isn't as easy as it sounds.
Morgan Windram-Geddes is just a couple of minutes behind Jacob
and after a childhood spent in America, she's used to the heat.
But this is one of the most brutal sections of the race.
It's really hot.
But it's OK, there's a nice descent after the climb.
That's good.
Did you expect to be this far up, or...? No, I didn't.
But I just held back a bit at the start, didn't go off like a maniac.
I think it paid off.
For several miles,
Morgan's been running alongside Guy Langdon from Bath.
He's also finding things hard.
I heard it was quite an easy race! HE CHUCKLES
I don't know where I got that from, but I'm going to try and
find out who told me that and have a word with them.
This is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Is that good at this stage of the race to have somebody to run with?
It's nice, yeah. You know somebody else is suffering right with you.
Everyone's been on the go for over 12 hours and exhaustion
is setting in.
Racers like this push the human body right to the limit
and with this comes a whole range of medical issues.
Some of which can be life-threatening.
Chris Ellis is a local GP who became aware of this event when
he was brought in to treat competitors in difficulties.
In 2005, this race happened,
unbeknown to me, I'd never heard of it,
and only became aware of it following some admissions to
the local Fort William Hospital.
It was apparent that a phenomenon was happening that had been
described in literature from events elsewhere,
reflecting something that was first identified in South Africa in 1985.
The issue, Exercise Associated Hyponatraemia, or EAH,
is still little known about and is incredibly serious.
The best way to identify it is by monitoring competitors' weight.
People get overloaded with water,
which has a diluting effect on the body salts and makes you
susceptible to swelling of the tissues,
most notably the brain, and adverse consequences that go with that.
And those adverse consequences are?
There are many, but the most recognised spectrum would be early
swelling of the brain associated with waterlogging might make
you confused and then you might progress on to having some
seizures or fits and then if it's ongoing, you become unconscious
and then at the extreme end, you can succumb from this.
The critical thing that was identified in South Africa,
that hormone produced by the master hormone gland,
the pituitary gland up in the brain, which makes you hang on to water,
assumes higher levels, say, at about four hours of exertion.
That's not very long - I mean,
four hours is a reasonably long bike ride,
or a marathon that you run slowly, or a hill walk.
Certainly, we have seen this phenomenon of low sodium in
slower runners, so the likelihood of it happening increases
the longer the event goes on.
Now, I'm not saying that everybody who runs ultras or events
exceeding four hours is subject to this phenomenon of producing
this hang-on-to-water hormone, but that's the underlying basis of it,
in conjunction with drinking water without really thinking about it.
Hi! Hello.
We are now in a very, very hot day, and the traditional advice was,
drink a litre of water every 45 minutes.
Are you saying that is now not the correct advice?
Definitely - drinking by the clock or trying to stay ahead of the game
is not generally advocated and that thirst is as good a guide
as any, with regard to your fluid requirements.
And if you'd like to find out more about Dr Chris Ellis's work,
and what else is going on on The Adventure Show,
as ever, follow us on Facebook.
The lead runners have now made their way up and down
the Devil's Staircase, and with its battering descent,
it is one of the toughest parts of the course.
However, what remains is a 15-mile drag into Fort William.
We'll be back shortly to see how they are getting on.
You may have gathered by now
that I've signed up for the Braveheart Triathlon -
56 miles on the bike and a half marathon up and down Ben Nevis.
But it is the swim that fills me with fear.
Now, 1.2 miles swimming in Loch Linnhe might not seem much
to you, but for me, it's horrendous,
worse than the run and the cycle put together.
I'm definitely not feeling particularly brave at heart!
So, I've come to Loch Venachar in the Trossachs to meet up with
my training guru, Sean McFarlane. Hi there. How are you?
I'm not bad, how are you?
I can't explain to you enough just how worried I am about this!
I'm not joking. The swim is really filling me with fear.
What are we going to do today?
Well, today, we'll start off with a short swim in this area here.
It's quite shallow, you can see the bottom.
There's a few boats around, it's quite a safe area.
Have a look at your stroke, see how you're getting on,
then we'll go for a longer swim.
A big thing that you need to quite soon develop is an ability
just to swim the distance.
We've been swimming 500 metres or so -
you've got to do four times that amount.
Right, cold water response.
Aah!
Oh, that's quite cold!
Immediately, I can't breathe.
'I'm concerned about open water, the fact it's dark
'when you look down, you can't really see the bottom.
'My breathing is not great and when I'm not breathing properly,
'I tend to panic.'
Oh! Come back towards us.
'My endurance isn't great.
'So, when I start getting really tired, it affects my breathing.
'If it affects my breathing, I panic.
'So, panic is my biggest problem.'
How are you feeling?
Fine.
In that temperature... Hold on.
Ohh! Actually, not fine.
Not fine at all!
That temperature is... Quite fresh!
Well, but Loch Linnhe is going to be at least that cool. Yeah. OK?
We'll get this done, we'll get this done... Yeah, yeah.
There's obviously work to be done. Uh-huh. OK?
Right, Dougie, let's keep you in shallow water,
so you can see the bottom, so let's swim round here,
nice and comfortable, you can see the bottom, and then come back, OK?
'In terms of managing the swim,
'psychologically it's a big challenge,'
there's going to be lots of ups and downs.
I've had swims before when my goggles have come off, been snapped
off in the first 50 metres, and that could happen, hopefully not.
So, there is a whole load of things that could happen, and it's all
about coping with those and getting through the swim efficiently.
How are you feeling?
HE COUGHS Terrible! OK.
Cold.
Not breathing properly.
Just the usual!
Let's swim back to this point here, same again,
just work on our rhythm, work on trying to relax as much as possible.
Stop fighting the water.
And you're still in the water, you've not come out yet,
so there is, hopefully, progress there.
Jeez!
Hard, isn't it?
Argh!
Got ice cream head.
Once we get going, hopefully it'll be better.
But I feel cold and I'm trying to,
because I'm not breathing well, I'm trying to avoid panicking.
I'll be fine. Do you want to get in the skiff, we'll go for a swim?
'Always the optimist, me!
'But now it's time to see how I cope with a much longer swim.
'While it's not as long as it will be in the Braveheart Triathlon,
'it's further than I've attempted before.'
There's a little bit of chop here,
but this could well be the conditions in Loch Linnhe.
I've swum in Loch Linnhe maybe ten times, at least,
and it's almost always like this.
So this is good.
Chop, OK.
It's not easy to get a breath.
Where are we going?
'Swimming is a very unique sport,
'in the sense that it's the one discipline where you swim
'with other people who are potential Olympic swimmers.
'He swims mainly at Stirling University swimming pool -
'there are people there that are going to Rio.
'And he tells me a lot how it's demoralising,
'but you mustn't compare yourself to other people like that.'
I've never actually swum with quite as much chop in the water,
and you think you get into a rhythm,
and then you turn - pfff!
Get a mouthful of water, and then you swallow it,
and then you inhale it.
Oh, dearie me! Right, off we go.
'When I started swimming,
'I was swimming and breathing every third stroke.
'Now I've discovered, I don't quite know why,
'but I'm breathing every second stroke on the left-hand side,
'and I'm doing OK and I'm feeling quite comfortable,
'but of course, in the pool,
'you can see the black line and you know exactly where you're going.
'In open water, I'm swimming like a big banana, it's horrible!
'And when I try and sight, when I try and look up,
'it affects my breathing.
'I know you have to look up all the time
'so you know you're going in the right direction.
'But that really worries me as well, that scares me that
'when I sight, I lose my rhythm and it all goes to pot.'
Well, how was that?
It was...
..uncomfortable, cold,
my sighting is clearly a big issue,
my breathing is clearly a big issue.
The biggest thing I want to avoid is swimming twice the length -
I need to, on the Braveheart,
and I'm worried that I'm swimming all over the place.
Oh, God! I need to put it all together.
How are you feeling about biking 56 miles
and running up and down Ben Nevis now?
When I'm out the water...
I'll be happy to do anything!
Just get out of the water!
Ohh!
'I really, really want to do this.'
But there's a cut-off in the swim,
and if I don't make that cut-off and I'm yanked out of the water,
put in the boat and I can't carry on, that would break my heart.
Welcome back to The Adventure Show.
We are now 80 miles up the route here in Kinlochleven.
It's been ten hours since the start and the first runners should be
coming through soon.
He's led since Bridge of Orchy, and James Stewart is still out in front.
Well done, James. Cheers!
It's been a tremendous effort, not just for him,
but for his whole support team.
This race has attracted some of the world's best runners,
and no-one, least of all his dad, underestimates the competition.
It is a world-class field, and to be honest,
we still don't know what he's capable of.
He's getting stretched every race he goes into now.
There is more and more better athletes and he's known now,
they know what he can do, they come out looking for him now.
He does have a very good German on his heels.
How does he cope with that?
James will stick to his own thing until it becomes apparent
that Adam's sitting on his shoulder.
If that becomes apparent, then he'll move out.
Cheers.
Adam is now less than six minutes behind, so the pressure is mounting.
It would be a tremendous achievement
if he could win his first off-road ultra.
He went so well over the Devil's Staircase, but right now,
he's looking really tired.
As he came now, he had energetic problem,
so he had a little too less glycogen,
and if he takes a gel and a cola,
it normally takes about five minutes
and everything is fine again.
So, would you see him wanting to do more and more adventure races
if he likes being out in a very wild place?
We will talk after the race, I don't know.
But it's very impressing, how close he is at the local champion.
Very strong head!
WHOOPING AND CHEERING
These first two runners are now over an hour ahead of everyone else.
Back on the Devil's Staircase, American Kris Brown,
who was in the lead before he went the wrong way, is struggling.
Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong!
I just, uh, felt like I was really for it.
The views from the Devil's Staircase are amongst the best
in Scotland, but after 13 hours of racing, this hill is a real test.
It's a long one, this one!
Yeah, everybody's said that. Yeah.
Not a lot of runners, I'm guessing, up this hill.
It's been... It's been a great day.
My support crew...
..I owe them big time.
Cos they are saving me!
It's too hot for a boy from Ayrshire, this!
Feeling it now!
Last leg, so we're in for a few hours of hard work.
The man with the camera, eh? Just what you want to see!
Just looking my best, I'm so sure!
The third woman up the Staircase, Lorna McMillan,
is just over 20 minutes behind her nearest rival,
and in spite of the smile, even she is finding the going tough.
Beginning to feel it now.
Looking forward to a few hours' time, when it's all over!
Hopefully get a glass of wine in hand.
But a great day for it.
Yeah, the things that keep you going, eh? Glass of wine.
Well, yeah, it's my birthday today, so I think I deserve one.
Wow, what a way to spend your birthday!
You're not the first person to say that.
Right, cheers, thank you very much.
It's four in the afternoon.
Everyone's been on the go for 15 hours.
But most are having a great day out.
It's such a beautiful race, and it's the challenge of trying to
get the time that you want, so I'm hoping to do under 20 hours today.
The views are just simply stunning. But oh, boy, it's tough!
The terrain's relentless.
And today, obviously, it's particularly hot.
So, it's not something you can train for, typically, in Scotland.
It's, er, one of those tough challenges that when you do it,
you think, "Never again!"
But the day afterwards,
you just reflect on just how magnificent it is.
It's just... It's Scotland!
This is one of the best parts of Scotland you can go through.
It's always been a dream of mine to run this race.
And this is my first time, so I'm on cloud nine just now.
And I'm trying to run with a smile on my face.
And my good friend Fiona Reilly, who runs in my club, said,
"Don't worry if the smile is not on your face,
"because it will always be in your heart."
So I try to keep remembering that.
And I've ran it with this man the whole way.
Never say die!
Aye! That's our little quote that's kept us going, "Never say die!"
Meanwhile, way out in front, James Stewart's race is nearly over.
There's just two miles to go
and it looks like he's heading for his first West Highland Way victory.
Doing amazing. How are you feeling? Hot. But it's over soon.
15 minutes behind him, Adam Zahoran from Germany
is making sure his support team is ready to greet him
when he completes this off-road ultra marathon.
Currently in the lead for the women and in third place overall,
Lizzie Wraith is approaching the final checkpoint.
It's seven miles south of Fort William
and from here, there's just one last hill
before the descent to Glen Nevis
And the finish in Fort Bill itself.
How are you doing, Lizzie? How are you doing? I'm all right.
You're doing all right? Excellent. You're looking great.
My goodness, and off she goes.
I don't think we'll try and chase her, because we wouldn't catch up.
88 miles into the race, big smiles on the face and off she goes.
She looks in really good form.
Can you consider, started at one o'clock in the morning.
The time now is 5:25 in the afternoon, Saturday afternoon.
Wow, she's looking good.
Fourth overall in the race is Jacob Tangey.
38 years old. Runs for the Dumfries Running Club.
Lives in Edinburgh. Australian.
And Jacob looks in not bad condition, either.
He had some real difficulties building up for this race,
had problems with his ankles.
But he's looking good just now.
Jacob, how are you doing? Are you feeling all right?
Erm...
..that's a yes and a no. Yeah.
Good to be nearly there. Yep.
But it's been a long day.
Feeling a bit sore? Mm-hm.
Only seven miles, though. Single figures now.
I think it's six. Right, OK.
We'll say five. That's even better.
Good try, Jacob.
Perhaps we'll settle for somewhere in between.
Whatever the final distance, one thing's for sure...
Jacob's on form today and has the experience to keep going
when he's desperate to give up.
The mind controls what the body does.
So if the mind gets upset that the body is hurting a lot,
it can just say, "No more."
But if you run through it, then your mind is mentally prepared,
it knows it can overcome these sort of things.
So you hope that it'll get better.
And that's the mind saying, "We know this could happen.
"Just keep going and you'll get more energy
"or the terrain will change
"or the sun will come out
"or you'll see somebody that's supporting you that you love,
"you'll get a hug, you'll gain encouragement."
And it's just like...
a deep breath and off you go.
And it's like, "OK, we're back to the grind again. Let's keep going."
This is Morgan Windram-Geddes from the Fife Athletic Club.
Really fantastic performance from her. 34 years old.
This is the second woman. Fifth overall in the race.
Having a wee walk up to the checkpoint.
How are we doing? Good, yeah.
You're looking good, huh? Thank you.
Not long to go now.
No. It was quite a climb out of Kinlochleven.
Was that the sore bit? Yeah.
Well, you can really see that that is hurting a lot.
Sheer will and dedication and determination
getting her through now.
When we got to Glencoe, she was really, really struggling.
She just said, "My knees are sore. I just want to stop."
And that's the time we just have to keep saying,
"We'll decide at the next checkpoint."
And then she keeps going and then she felt fresh.
She felt, actually, really good at the next checkpoint
and now she's struggling again.
But she's good. She'll get there.
As Morgan battles over the last few painful miles,
James Stewart's race is over.
15 hours, 15 minutes and 59 seconds
after setting off from the start line,
he's the first to finish today.
But as Deziree waits to congratulate him,
he's got other things on his mind...
I'm just going for dinner. I just wanted to say congratulations.
Pizza and beer. That's all I want to see.
Fantastic run. Thank you so much. Well done. Thank you.
You still look really fresh. How are you feeling?
I don't look anything like how I feel, if I'm being honest with you.
How do you feel? Erm...
Yeah, that was tough.
That last 14 miles was the toughest effort I've ever had to run.
Because Adam was chasing me down, four minutes behind at Kinlochleven.
And in old Scottish parlance, I had to put the gutty down.
But I did it and it's...
It'll take a while to sink in, but I'm absolutely over the moon.
CHEERING
It's his first-ever off-road ultra marathon.
He's never been to Scotland before.
He's had no chance to recce the terrain.
But just 16 and a half minutes later,
Adam Zahoran crosses the finish line to take second place.
What an achievement.
It was a better placement.
I'm absolutely satisfied and delighted
that I could be the second on there.
First real trial of my life.
Seven, or for the more optimistic, six miles further back,
the third woman is approaching the final checkpoint.
This is Lorna McMillan, birthday girl. That's fantastic.
# ..birthday to you
# Happy birthday, dear Lorna
# Happy birthday to you. #
CHEERING
Hi again. How are you doing? Good, thanks.
Hello. How are you doing? right? I'm all right.
You're looking great. Thank you. I'm feeling fantastic.
Are you really? Well, kind of. It's only six miles to go.
Exactly. You're looking really strong.
Thank you very much. It's home straight.
Have you been smiling for the last 17 hours, though? No.
Yes, you have! I've been happier than I was last year.
I ran it last year and had a pretty terrible time.
Have they got a cake at the finish for you? I hope so.
We've got champagne.
Right, I'm going to head.
Have fun. We'll see you at the end.
Oh, thank you.
Have fun. Good on you. Good effort.
Well done, Lorna.
It's quite extraordinary,
when you see different people going through this checkpoint,
where their mind-set is after 89 or so miles.
Quite amazing.
Lorna clearly very happy to be going onto the home straight here.
Others, hm...
They're worried about this last bit of running
and they're trying to put their mind into the place
to get them over the line.
But Lorna, happy birthday. She's happy. She's great. And strong.
Amazing.
And what a great run Jacob Tangey is having.
He's overtaken Lizzie Wraith
and is now racing down Glen Nevis to the finish.
17 hours and 37 minutes after setting off this morning,
Jacob's race is nearly over.
Just the last few steps to the finish line...
That's it.
He's had a tremendous day and finishes in third.
Fantastic achievement. You must be thrilled. Yeah. Yeah.
It was tough, but I was able to run most of the way,
except up the hills.
But there are a lot of long sections.
It seemed like parts weren't going to finish.
Lizzie Wraith is just five minutes behind Jacob.
She's not just the fastest woman on the course today,
but she's in fourth place overall.
What a truly amazing run she's had.
I know you must be exhausted, but a phenomenal achievement.
Thank you. Really well done. You must be absolutely thrilled.
Yeah, I'm really happy. That was tough.
And think there was a girl close behind, so it was a good race.
Well done.
Nearly there. Thank you.
Second to Fort William for the women is Morgan Windram-Geddes.
She's the fifth fastest today
and has been on the go for 18 hours and eight minutes.
Unbelievable.
I'm really happy that I'm here, but I'm shattered.
The last...
I didn't realise how many climbs were on the last leg, actually.
And the heat was quite bad. But, yeah, it was an amazing day.
It really was.
Really happy with my time.
And here comes the birthday girl.
Lorna McMillan, 41 years old today
and a fantastic time - 18 hours, 23 minutes and 33 seconds.
I think there'll be plenty of celebrations tonight.
I had a little hope in my mind that I could get around about 19 hours.
So to come in at, like, 18...
I think it was 18:23, yeah, I'm absolutely delighted.
Yes, it was a big surprise.
So confirmation of those final results...
For the men, Jacob Tangey came in third
in a time of 17 hours, 37 minutes and 50 seconds.
Second place went to Adam Zahoran
in 15 hours, 32:27.
And taking the top spot was James Stewart,
with his great time of 15 hours, 15 minutes and 59 seconds.
For the women, in third place was Lorna McMillan,
who completed the race in 18 hours, 23:33.
Second was Morgan Windram-Geddes in 18:08:20.
But 26 minutes ahead of her,
Lizzie Wraith was the fastest woman on the course today,
with a time of 17 hours, 42 minutes and 27 seconds.
Well, that's it for this month's Adventure Show.
Congratulations to everyone who took part,
the organisers and the support crews, as well.
Truly extraordinary.
Next time around, we'll be back in Fort William
for the Braveheart Triathlon,
when it's me who's going to be put through their paces.
Looking forward to that, I'm supposed to say.
Until then, from all the team, thank you so much for your company.
Bye for now.