Runners are Smilers

Neil MacNicol, Montane Lakeland 50 Winner.

Pic Adrian Stott.

Neil MacNicol, from Fife, became the oldest winner of The Lakeland 50 mile race last weekend. In an exciting finish, he caught the leaders in the last 5km and took the victory by 74 seconds after 8 hours of running. I caught up with him to talk through his race.

Neils Record at Lakeland.

AS. You have placed second twice in the Lakeland 100. You’ve also placed fourth and 54th, which I think was the year you were on the way back from your operation. Why didn’t you want to do the 100? Why the 50 this year?

NM. The 100 was quite traumatic last year. I went over on my ankle three times before I got to Buttermere. The third time, I was about two miles out from Buttermere. I thought it might be a race-ender, but I managed to press on despite feeling it.

I was out for about a month to six weeks after the 100 last year. When I think back, I came into Dalmain expecting to be in sixth or seventh place and saw Marcus Kubats sitting there with his blanket around him. He had pulled out, and the marshals immediately said, “Oh you guys are second and third. I was like what? We don’t need this pressure this early on. So from then on, it was trying to hold the place. When we left Dalmain last year, the other guys came in, who’d gone before us. Seemingly they had gone the wrong way. So it was all very stressful and traumatic, but I was pleased to hold on and get second last year. After that, I was just like, I think I’ll try the 50 next year.

AS. Has the Achilles been an ongoing thing or just something that flared up in the race?

MNM. Well, historically I’ve had it years ago and then it flared up a little bit at the start of this year. I was seeing Johnny actually and I got shockwave and stuff around it.

All the rehab exercises sorted it out. Maybe a month ago, I felt the slightest tightness, I was foam rolling it regularly, and it was okay for the race, but just after the race, it’s just a wee bit tender.

I can’t complain if that’s all I get. Normally after the 100-Mile, I’m totally destroyed.

AS. In some ways, running the 50 is a little less pressure, but also a little more pressure as you’re going a little faster. Did you adapt your training, knowing you were doing the 50 rather than the 100?

Building up to the 2023 race

NM. The intention was to do the 50, but as it got closer to it, like in February, March, or April time when training was building back up, I began to think I would prefer to be back in the 100-mile. I was going to ask them to upgrade me to the 100. I didn’t do that until late on when I was semi-confident of being in good shape for it, and by then, it was too late, even with podium perks and lockdown entries and stuff. I didn’t get the opportunity to focus on some faster work which was a concern going in, but I took confidence that I had done more volume and elevation than last year. It was going to be interesting to see how that would apply to the much faster 50 pace. I over-analysed the splits, and worked out that if I was anywhere near 8 hours, I would be three minutes a mile faster than the 100-mile pace, which was scaring me.

AS. Did you go into the race with a plan of thinking you could get on the podium or get close to 8 hours, or were you going to feel your way into it?

NM. I looked at Rory Harris’s time last year. He ran 8.15, but it’s not always as simple as that is it? I knew he ran some big races before. This year, I think he did a 100 mile four weeks before this race. I could never do that. So you never know if they are in top shape when they’re doing the race. His 8.15 looked quite good, but I did think it might be ambitious.

In the end, I took splits similar to Katie’s in 2022. She was able to do 8 hours and 2 minutes last year. Anyway, I put all the splits in and made a little sheet to carry with me, thinking it was very ambitious. I was also over-analysing, and thinking about the Highland Fling five or six years ago, or even longer, when I last raced 53 miles, but with less elevation. I was struggling to get under eight hours way back then, so when I remembered that, I was thinking, “Oh my God, I’m never going to get eight hours in the Lakeland Fifty. Negative thinking I know, but I aimed for eight hours and managed to get pretty close to it, which was a surprise.

AS. Katie will be flattered, to know that her splits are being used by the guys to compile their pace chart.

NM. I did tell her at the end.

How the race unfolded for Neil

AS Tell us, “How did your race unfold? From the stats I’ve looked at, you always seem to be in the top three or four from the first checkpoint. Were you aware of that? Did you know how many guys were ahead of you?

I knew it was about 4 or 5, I was in 4th or 5th from the start. I was expecting the pace to be fast on the first section to Howtown, and It was. Heading up the hill out of Pooley Bridge, I was thinking right, maybe we’ll get on to schedule and hit Howtown at 1:21 or close to that.

When I was going into Howtown, Rory Harris was coming out, looking pretty strong going up the hill. I was thinking, that’s the last I’ll see of him. When I came out of Howtown and headed for Mardale, I just got about 50 metres behind Rory by the time I got to Fusedale and followed him along the top of Fusedale and dropped him down to Haweswater and caught him at the bridge before you go into the bracken and stuff above Haweswater and followed him along there for a bit. I got the impression he was having a bit of a slow moment, and I was wondering if I should go past him or stick with him as it seemed an okay pace. I was over-analyzing for about 10 minutes, and then, in the end, I passed him, thinking he would get back to me later on, but this feels okay at the moment. I reached the Mardale Head checkpoint but didn’t go in. I just got water and stuff and took off up the hill. I checked my watch then, and it was on for 3 hours, which is on my schedule for 8 hours.

I just went on from there and didn’t bother checking the schedule after that because I thought, “Well there’s nothing much you can do. You can’t go any faster, this is it.”

I climbed up Gatescarth pretty well. That was when the rain was coming on pretty hard, and all the 100 runners were getting their jackets out. I thought it was quite cooling, so I thought to wait at least another 5 or 10 minutes before I get the jacket out. I didn’t get the jacket out in the end and ran well down to Garburn, but started having a wee bit of a slow moment after that. I think Dan Thacker passed me somewhere about there.

He caught a guy in front of me too. I don’t know if that was Chris Steele. Somebody who pulled out at Ambleside. He would have been second then, or maybe even first, I don’t know.

I had a bit of a low point before Ambleside. I couldn’t hold on to them. It might have been Dan and Robert actually. They went up and onto Ambleside and were only a few minutes ahead of me I think, but I didn’t want to go at their pace. It built too quickly. When I went through Ambleside, that gave me a boost and I cracked on from there, really.

Dan Thacker had to go to the toilet at Ambleside, which I didn’t know, so I was climbing out of Ambleside, and he came up behind me again. He said he’d been sick in Ambleside but he passed me there looking strong

He went a way ahead, and he looked really light and I just couldn’t hold his pace. I let him go, and I started to think, “Well V50 first will be good, but you’re unlikely to make the podium. Just keep doing what you can do”

I still didn’t know exactly what position I was in. I thought it might be the fourth or the fifth.

I got along Langdale Valley and on the flat was managing the 8-minute 30 pace or something, which seems like a rocket pace compared to the 100-mile pace

I was starting to think I was feeling a bit better and thought of trying to catch people but I couldn’t see anyone. At Chapel Style, the woman was standing outside the checkpoint, and I was saying, “Do I need to go in there? And she said, “Yeah you have to go in, but you can go straight through”

So I went in and ran straight through the middle of the tent and out the other side to save time. I had half a bottle left, and I thought that’ll do me till Jacobs Ladder. I was feeling okay then and was trying to make up time, but I still couldn’t see anyone ahead to get that mental boost of seeing them.

AS. At Tilberthwaite, (46 Miles) Rob and Dan were more or less together. Could you see them approaching Tilbethwaite, or were they out of sight?

NM. I could see someone when I came out of the woods after the tarn, before the unmanned checkpoint, when you’re staying high. I was about halfway along that, and I could see someone running down. I think that would have been Dan.

That gave me a bit of a boost, but I thought they were still two, three minutes ahead of me, and they looked to be running well because they were running downhill, and I was running uphills. I was thinking maybe if they’re slowing, or they’re struggling, they’re trying to convince themselves that everyone else is struggling too.

I just kept going, and I didn’t see him again. I was looking when I was coming down towards Tilberthwaite, where you can see the checkpoint, but I couldn’t see him. I think they might have been three or four minutes ahead, so they were probably just enough to get to the checkpoint and out of sight before I got there. I went into Tilberthwaite and I think I ditched all my fluids before I got there. I took a tiny bit of coke from them and asked them to take two o bars out of my top pocket. They were going to open them and give them to me, but I said no thanks, just keep them there. I don’t need the weight at the moment. Then I lost time because I left them, and then I remembered the pound coin at the bottom of the stairs. So I was faffing, trying to get a pound coin out for about 30 seconds, and then the woman helped me to get the pound coin out after saying, “You can go, just finish.” Those few seconds could have been critical if I’d been closer.

I left and climbed out of Tilberthwaite as best I still couldn’t see anyone. I got up to the top of the climb, around the corner, then just as I was coming towards the little tree where you cross the burn, I could see the two of them way up ahead. There wasn’t much gap between them, just 30 seconds or something. The first guy, Robert, had his poles and Dan was just toddling along, walking in a section I thought he should be running. At that stage, he was trying to catch the first guy. I was wondering about that, and I made an effort to get them. When I looked up again, Dan was pulling his shorts up at the side of the track!

He just stood there for a few seconds and almost let me get to him. Then he said, “That’s me. I totally exploded. The first guy’s looking darned sore. You might catch him.

I was quite surprised at that because I thought he was chatting fine and looked ok, but I thought he’d have kept going because the first guy in front was that close. As I passed him, he said, ” How far back is fourth? I was 50 metres away by now, so I just raised my arms to him, “I don’t know.”

Afterwards, I thought, fourth? If he’s in fourth, I have just come into third but I still didn’t know. I thought the guy in front was second and I knew I was pretty confident I could get him, because he was just up ahead now and had the poles out on the flat, and just looked a bit stiff. I thought I was over-analyzing again and thinking, right, “We’ll reach him at the top of the descent. I’ll try to pass him on the descent, but surely he’s going to find a boost because he knows I’m coming behind him. I caught him just going down the descent and followed him for about a minute. I was wondering how I was going to pass him on the narrow trail when, a couple of seconds later, he happened to go to the right around this rocky outcrop. There was a channel to the left, so I bombed down that and got in front of him. I didn’t look back, and just hammered it into the town as much as I could. I glanced around as I hit the tarmac, and then I had a glance as I got into town. I didn’t see anyone, so I thought I’d got ahead of them, but I still wasn’t sure what position I was in. I thought I might be second.

The Finish

I crossed the line and then made an idiot of myself by getting confused. They were saying “First 50” and I was thinking I was first 50 years old and then they kept asking, “Are you 50? “

I kept saying, :I’m not 50. I’m 51.”

What they were really asking was, “Are you in the 50-mile race?

Eventually, Marc (Marc Laithwaitethe organiser) stood there and said, “Are you in the 50-mile race?” And I’m saying, “Yes the 50, Lakeland 50. And he’s saying, “You won the race.!”

And I’m like, WHAT? That was a little bit surreal.

AS. So when you crossed the line, you didn’t know you had won? It wasn’t until you got into the tent,?

NM. After I crossed the line and before I got into the tent, I was just processing it all. When I got into the tent and everyone was clapping, I did a very embarrassing dance around.

AS. When you finally processed you had one, what sort of feelings were going through you?

NM. I couldn’t believe it, I was just so surprised.

I knew it was a good time, well good for me. 8:03 was much better than I was expecting. I knew that around 8 hours generally gets you on the podium for that race. Some years are faster. I think 8:03 would have been 4th last year. I know some boys have been down below 7.45 but it was an okay time. I didn’t expect to win, and I was just convincing myself that it was just lucky timing. It’s when the fatigue hits you. I had a bit of a slow point in the middle third of the race. I suppose I was finishing strong and they must have been struggling at the end. Because I know what it’s like, it’s just exhausting, you can’t go any faster, you’ve nothing you can do really, and it’s pretty stressful if someone is coming from behind you. More stressful than seeing if someone’s in front of you and you feel like you can get them.

AS. I’ve done some checking, and you are the oldest winner of the 50-Mile race. Has that sunk in yet?

The younger guys, in theory, should have had the speed endurance to beat you, but what do you put that down to? Is it just your experience or your 100-mile experience is making you stronger on the day

. NM. Yes. It’s not bad. So even if you’re stronger in the second half, you still have to measure it in the first half. It’s so easy to screw it up. , I’m constantly questioning myself. “Am I going too fast?” I suppose, like many races, the first section of the 50 is fairly runnable, so you have to take advantage of it, but not too much advantage of it.

Run fast when you can, but not overly fast. A minute gained then could end up being three minutes lost at the end of the race.

AS.During the race, in this age of too much technology, are you looking for any heart monitors at all, or are you just going totally by feel? I know you’re looking at your splits and checkpoints times, but in between that, are you just going by how you feel?

NM. Yes, I am very much going by feel. In the first section, I checked my heart rate a couple of times, and it was 145, so about 85% for me. Pretty high, and so I was a wee bit concerned by that. But then I’d always overrule it with what I felt like on the day, and I was feeling good, so it was okay. I’m not properly redlining. I could go faster, but I wouldn’t be able to sustain it. This pace feels okay at the moment. You never know for sure, but you’re just trying to use your instinct and feelings from experience in other races and what you think you can get away with. For me, it’s a constant feeling of thinking that you’re hoping you’re balancing it right.

I suppose I do go on pace mostly rather than chasing people and trying to stick with the leaders and see who burns out first. I don’t think I would ever try that approach, like racing from the gun holding on to the first and second guys or whatever. I always have a rough time in mind, which should generally be near the podium, if not on it sometimes, but I didn’t think that for this race. I just thought, “Right. Let’s try 8 hours. It looks doable on paper. Pretty ambitious for me, but I knew I had a big endurance base. I’d done as much speed work but a lot more volume than last year.

AS . Just winding this up a little bit. Compared with the 100, was your feeling any different for the 50?

NM. I haven’t run a fast 50 for a long time, so I try to recall that you can get away with a lot more on a 50-mile than you can on a 100. I thought I went on the plan that I wouldn’t have to get anything from any of the checkpoints. The plan was 80 to 90 grams of carbs an hour, roughly, if I could get it down me, which was not always the case.

I carried carbohydrate powder, and I poured the carbohydrate drink

into my little bag. At every second checkpoint, I had a pH 1500 salt tab mixed in it as well and also had some chews.

I kept the fluid going quite a decent amount. I probably could have done with more fluid actually, because I only had one pee in the whole race.

AS.Did you have much in the way of solid food? You’re obviously out for less time than the 100 miles. Is solid food as important for you in the 50, as it is to the 100?

NM. No. I wouldn’t think so for me. I don’t eat sandwiches or anything in a 50-mile. I was mainly using carbohydrate drinks, chews and water. I think in the 100 last year, once or twice I used to have the peanut butter and jam sandwiches, but I definitely have the rice pudding and stuff like that. I didn’t go into any checkpoints looking for something.

What is next for Neil

AS. So what’s next for you?

NM. I haven’t got anything planned at the moment. With my historic knee injuries, I don’t race a lot but try to make Lakeland a priority each year. I just wanted to make the start in decent shape.

I helped my friend Johnny with his Bob Graham Round in May this year. He’s been bullying me into doing one at the end of September. So I might give that a shot if I recover fine from this, and the Achilles is fine, which hopefully it will be.

It was good fun doing it with Johnny and his friends.

AS. Hoping that will go well for you. Thanks for your time today. Great to chat and catch up with you.

NM. No worries. You’ve got the exclusive. Now If anyone else asks me, I can say, “No, I’ve told Adrian. He’s got it. You can check his blog”.

Full Lakeland 50 results can be seen here https://results.opentracking.co.uk/event/23lakeland50

You can read our Montane Lakeland 100 /50 preview HERE

And our Montane Lakeland 100/50 overview with key race historical Stats HERE

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