Loch Gu Loch

We were in the Boathouse, a very cool restaurant space on the shores of Loch Ness in Fort Augustus.  Rosemary and Izzy were ordering dinner and drinks at the bar whilst I was nattering with Francois, possibly the most enthusiastic athlete in the world. The subject was how it’s great to change focus in later years of racing, simply to have fun. And it had been a really fun day that had started for most 14 hours previously.
 
I heard noises just before 5am. Eek…..i’d slept in. I had previously said that I’d accompany the girls to the ferry which would take them to the start of the inaugural Loch Gu Loch swim run race. The race was an epic one with 47km of running and 8-odd km of swimming in the stunning area surrounding Loch Ness. I was marshaling and decided that there was no need to get up as I was only needed from 8:20 and the girls would cope fine without me fussing. A quick good luck kiss n hug for Rosemary and I rolled over for a few more hours of kip.

The organisers run a chilled but very tight ship so there wasn’t much to do other than decant some stuff from one vehicle to a few others. My lift Sandy and his missus drove us out to Loch Mhor where we set up a feed station and then I headed out to Swim entry 5, my assigned point on the shores of the loch. It was quite a precarious walk between the woods and the water’s edge, with me crashing through very tightly packed twiggy trees linked together by silky spiders’ webs.
 
I soon found my spot, a relatively midge free area with a cairn adorned boulder and a fluorescent arrow pointing far across the very still water. The first racers were due an hour later so I perched myself on a rock and read the paper. Time passed very quickly before the skirl of the pipes enveloped the whole glen to signify the approach of the leaders. Tears welled up in my eyes as it was quite moving hearing the sound of a lone piper in such beautiful surroundings.
 
Stuart MacLeod and Chris Stirling were the first pair to reach me, moving quickly over the rocky shoreline. There were few pleasantries, they dibbed (an electronic timing system) to signify they had reached the checkpoint and were then soon swimming across the loch. Over the next 3 or so hours another 48 teams passed me. One hadn’t made it to me, having to withdraw on the 1st swim in Loch Ness due to hypothermia.
 
Open water swimming in cold water is very safe if you do so regularly and know what to expect.  It’s a skill that needs to be acquired though as you must learn to stay calm and get moving very quickly. The less initiated can panic due to a ‘shock response’ and slower or less confident and relaxed swimmers can rapidly get cold. Rumor had it that the withdrawn athlete had done all their training in a pool.
 
Rosemary and Izzy went through in around 8th place and the leading female pair. Although bias, I have to say that they were the slickest pairing in the entire field….going through their transition routine at speed and with minimal fuss. This is because they'd done regular and specific training all year and had also raced the best in Sweden, the home of swim-run. Towards the tail of the field most teams were doing the event as a challenge, rather than racing seriously. There were plenty of smiles, hilarious transitions and many strange route choices across the loch. I thought a straight line was the best way to do so too!
 
After the last team had gone through, I fought my way back through the woods to the road where Sandy was waiting. We drove back to Fort Augustus where I was grateful for lunch. There was then some excitement. Stuart and Chris had had a substantial lead and had almost been guaranteed victory. However, their tracker was showing that they had gone way off course and had to enter Loch Ness 3km away from the assigned point. A rib was dispatched to ensure they remained safe but victory was now gone.  
 
Soon after, the new leaders Bonnie van Wilgenburg and Graeme Stewart entered loch for their final swim. I sat on the shore with camera primed as they exited, thinking this was the finishing line but we shoed them towards the finishing tape a few hundred metres away. Rosemary and Izzy excited the water in 5th place overall, to me cheering them furiously. They had won their category without challenge; however, they had chicked a whole lot of blokes in the process. An amazing performance.
 
It had been a very tough challenge and Rosemary was a bit teary…..the fact that I had a moss wig poking out from my baseball cap halted the tears and she managed a ‘you are completely ridiculous’ smile instead. You may ask why I was wearing a moss wig to which my response is a) I have little hair on my head and b) it was done to entertain a couple of wee lassies who giggled in only the way 5 year olds can!
 

It had been an amazing day, which has motivated me to attempt the event next year. I need a partner so if you wanna volunteer…… you know where I am. I was amazingly proud of Rosemary and Izzy, especially because of they were probably the best prepared team in the race. They thoroughly deserved their victory. It was great to see so many old friends in such an amazing part of the world. Paul, Stuart, John and the team had put on an amazing race.


The chips later in the evening were good too!