A Dumbarton ultra runner has said he surprised himself with a 42nd place finish at the sport’s holy grail in California.
John Connolly, 45, completed the gruelling Western States 100 mile run in 21 hours 53 minutes, despite being faced with hugely challenging terrain and soaring temperatures.
The Western 100 is considered the ultimate test of an athlete’s endurance, climbing more than 18,000 feet and descending nearly 23,000 feet along its 100.2 mile course.
And John’s time meant he is now in possession of one of the most sought after prizes in ultra running. A sub-24-hour silver belt buckle.
Speaking about the experience, John said: “It’s the oldest and most prestigious 100 mile race in the world.
“The one thing I knew I had to do was come back with a buckle.
“They give you a solid silver buckle if you manage 100 miles in a day and it’s all handmade. It’s pretty special.
“Crossing the finishing line in under 22 hours and getting that buckle is something that still hasn’t sunk in.
“I still look at it and can’t believe it’s mine.
“I’m still trying to process everything and make sense of it.”
John joked that he had attracted plenty of envy from his pals by securing a place at the event, with entry via a ballot system - and under 400 spots available
“It’s a highly sought after race. There are only about 360 places and they have to hold a ballot every year. It’s not like anyone can just give it a bash” he explained.
“The more consecutive years that you apply, the higher your chances are of getting in.
“There are qualifying races of around the 100 mile distance. Mine was the Trans Gran Canaria.
“It’s about 80 miles and goes from one end of Gran Canaria to the other.
“That generally takes about 18 or 19 hours.
“Qualifying is nearly as hard as getting through the ballot.
“I’ve got friends who have entered for years, increasing their percentage chances every time.
“This was the first year I applied for it. I only had a one percent chance of getting chosen - but my name was picked out.
“My pals were on the phone saying they wanted to be happy for me, but that they couldn’t believe how jammy I had been.”
And he admits he surprised himself by how well he paced himself throughout the gruelling event.
John continued: “I’ve been doing this for over seven years now to quite a decent standard. But in the time I’d done it, I’d not been able to complete a 100 mile race.
“Western States is the first 100 mile race I’ve finished.
“And it’s probably the most prestigious and toughest I’ve done.
“Going into that race I was worrying. I’d effectively won the lottery of ultra-running and was going to be on one of the biggest stages in the community.
“If how things have gone in the past were anything to go by then I felt I was going to make a mess of it.
“It got that bad for me that I spoke to a sports psychologist to work with for the last six months to deal with the mental pressure I put myself under to perform on a stage that big.
“Prior to going, I had decided that I wouldn’t race it like I normally would. I just wanted to enjoy the experience.
“I looked after myself and took it nice and easy for the first 60 miles. I never felt as if I was under any great pressure.
“The biggest thing to manage was the temperature, which was touching 40 degrees at certain points.
“You’re running with ice down your back and front to keep your core temperature low.
“Because I managed that well I decided that, for the last 38 miles, I’d start racing.
“I felt really good for that stretch.
“In the last 10 miles I was passing by people in a really bad state, but I was still running well.
“I came flying down to the finish and felt brilliant.
“I couldn’t believe how good I felt at the end of it.”
As well as being the first 100 mile race he had completed, John’s journey to becoming an ultra runner was also an unusual one.
He added: “The weird thing is that I just went straight into ultra-running.
“I ran a half marathon with a friend of my wife about a decade ago. That was the only thing I’d ever done.
“After that, I did a tough mudder and in preparation for that, my brother and I did a bit of training up in the hills where we had a chance meeting with a guy called Davie Gow.
“He was training for the West Highland Way race. He made a throwaway comment about us seeming pretty fit and saying we should give ultra running a go.
“About five or six weeks later we decided to try and run the West Highland Way over three days.
“At the end of the second day, I took a bad turn and needed paramedics to come in.
“That was my introduction to that sort of distance.
“Off the back of that, I thought I wouldn’t let it beat me. So I started training properly and haven’t looked back since.”
