Started at 3:00am to avoid traffic. Running on the road through the dark is not technical, just to keep going and keeping an eye on any potential vehicles on the road.
90% of the route is on the road so all the precautions were made with light on my bag, reflective vest and a headtorch which was on as long as I was on the road.
A830 is not that busy winter time but it's much easier to run without the need to jump on the verge.
First part was I think the hardest all the way to Lochailort as the weather was demanding. The sudden gusts of wind were randomly slowing me down combined with heavy downpours. Thankfully the weather improved after Lochailort and running from here to Glenfinnan was just pure pleasure. Only thing I had to keep my eye out was the deer standing on the side of the road watching me and hoping they will not come out in front of me. In Glenfinnan I knew I have done 90% of the climbing which felt amazing.
From Glenfinnan to Fort William I kept a steady pace. It got brighter and I got few glimpses of blue sky.
Last 20km I had to push a bit more as I was starting to slow down. Once I got a good rhythm I just kept it as long as I had to until I had to take another gel.
At Corpach Co-Op I felt great because previously I stopped there and had to call a taxi. I pushed through down to the Neptunes Staircase, crossed the canal and along the shores of Loch Linnhe through Caol and to Fort William.
It felt amazing storming on the straights to the finish.
High Street was empty and I don't remember being so happy seeing a statue.
05:43:00 Completed with an amazing pace of 05:01min/km
Super proud of myself of keeping this pace all the way to the finish.
I walked into Weatherspoons, sat down near a warm heater, dried my stuff and got some good food.