Stuart Johnston talks on his West Highland Way victory
AS Thanks for taking the time to chat today. For people who don’t know your background, tell us briefly how you got into running and how you got into or were led astray into running ultras.
SJ So I guess I started running as a form of therapy about five years ago. Throughout my university years, I was into powerlifting, so quite the polar opposite of ultrarunning.
But long story short, I got fed up with that. I wasn’t getting anything meaningful out of the sport anymore. I’d been out doing a lot more Munro Bagging and those sorts of things. I was doing a lot of hiking. With one of my friends we had done a weekend trip to the Cairngorms, We did a route which was approximately a 40-kilometre route and we were absolutely knackered. After the last Munro, we were sitting at the top, eating the last of our food, trying to summon the energy to go back to the car when a runner came along. He skipped his way to the top of the hill and asked us what we’d been up to. We told him where we’d been, and he was like, “Oh, yeah, that’s what I’ve just done this morning”. My mind just exploded from there.
You know, like how he’d done that so casually. Then I’d kind of been doing a wee bit of running with some friends at work when one of them gifted me a brand new pair of trainers that he couldn’t return. That was it. I started enjoying getting out running and then started to read more about ultra-marathons on Facebook. A few of my friends, Roger and my friend Johnny, who was one of my crewmen on the race, had run the West Highland Way.
I think I said this to you the other day, “My mind was just blown away by people running those sorts of distances. That was it. I started working towards getting a qualifying race for the West Highland Way, which I was first down to run in 2020. Then that got cancelled, so I had to wait a few years.
AS So the West Highland Way has been on your radar for a few years now, but this is the year you finally got to do it. What was your initial motivation for wanting to do the West Highland Way rather than all the other events out there?
SJ. I think it’s just such a classic and iconic route in Scotland. even if you’re not into the ultra-marathon scene or you don’t know it as a race, everybody knows the West Highland Way. Everybody knows someone who has walked the West Highland Way and everybody knows it’s just such an iconic race. To me, it’s like the equivalent of the Boston Marathon. It’s just something that stuck in my head, and the more I trained and went out and ran in different sections of it, the more I loved it. So getting to do the race was the final part that I had to tick off.
AS You’re right. I talk to a lot of people, and it is Scotland’s iconic race. I mean, yes, South Africa has Comrades, Greece has The Spartathlon, and California has the Western States, which are all great races, but if you’re Scottish, the West Highland Way is the iconic one to do. So if I’m right in my research, your longest race before this was the Great Glen, is that right?
SJ I actually did the Cumbria Way a couple of years ago and I think that was slightly longer by a couple of miles. But yeah, Great Glen and Cumbria were my longest races. (Authors Note Greta Glen is 72 miles and The cumbria way 73 miles)
AS. Great Glen went quite well for you last year. This being your first 100, how did you prepare any differently from any other race? Was there anything special you did in the last few months of the training block building up to this?
SJ I think there were two things. I was running a lot more mileage. compared to my mileage for the Great Glen. I think for that I did one peak week that was around about 90 miles, whereas when I was getting ready for the West Highland Way, I was sitting between 80 and up to 100 miles for some weeks. So that was the main difference, just doing more consistent mileage. I was also doing a lot more runs, specifically to get myself ready for the downhills because, in the second half of the race, the downhills will eat you alive if you’re not ready for them. You need to be ready to run off the bottom of them. So that was the two big focuses.
AS And just as some “geeky runner background” and all the usual questions people ask you. What was your longest run before the event, number one? And are you into doing single long runs or back-to-back weekend efforts? What works best for you?
SJ. To finish my first training block for the West Highland Way in early March, I did a time trial on the Devil of the Highlands route. I just rocked up at Tyndrum with my brother, and he crewed me. I just made it to Fort William MacDonald’s as fast as I could. So that was my longest run. (Writers Note The Devil o The highlands Route is 43 miles on the second half of the West Highland Way) After that, I think the furthest I went was about 27 miles. I would do a long run of something more than 20 miles every two weeks. The only kind of big back-to-backs I did was four weeks out. We ran the majority of the course as a bit of a training camp. We did some days that were like 20 miles back-to-back, and then I think a 27 and a 15 to finish the week. Generally, I try to stay away from very long back to back’s, they are just too much to recover from.
AS Yes. You’re right, everyone finds their optimum level, but too many long runs do you in, and you don’t get to the start line fresh. Do you do any speed work or hill work during the week, or every other week, just to keep the tempo up or not?
SJ, I do a lot of interval stuff. With my coach Gary House, through the week, we’re almost training as if we are going to do a marathon. Doing sessions that are maybe 10 by 3 minutes uphill, or some kilometre reps. Those sorts of things build the kind of upper limits of my engine. Progression runs are a big part of it as well, along with some downhill efforts during the run too.
So we definitely focus on speed work. I guess the other kind of change that I made in the second training block for West Highland Way was a lot of my easy runs I would do on a treadmill, and I would put it up very steep and just get used to slowly running up hills and doing some fast, hiking intervals because I am not a talented uphill runner, but I am a good uphill walker.
AS. Having a coach is important to you and your relationship with your coach works well. It seems like you work together to identify your weaknesses and then address them as best you can.
SJ, Yes, we work closely on that.
AS Do you think it’s important to have a coach for doing something like this? Or is it possible to be self-coached for these things? In your case, do you find it’s helped to have someone there, leaning over your shoulder saying, “Try this, try that?” Or you’re not doing enough of this, so do that instead, etcetera. How important a role has the coach been in your development?
SJ. I think broadly speaking for people, if you’ve got the means to have a coach, I know that’s not something that everybody can do, but if you can, then it’s highly beneficial from getting a lot from their experience and programming your sessions that seem very, very hard and that will push you beyond what you would maybe program for yourself.
These sorts of things I think are very important. And yes, from a goal-setting point of view, they’ll get to know what you’re capable of which can be very helpful. Gary and I have an interesting relationship from a coaching point of view because I get so much from his experience. He programs me very hard sessions and makes sure that everything is running in a logical order.
My background is working as a physio.
I am currently working part-time as a physio, but I’m doing a postgrad at Glasgow Uni in Sports and exercise medicine. I’ve got a deep personal interest in that side of things. So we have a lot of conversations that are around what I think might work, and then he can set that within the context of all his experiences.
Half of my current course looks at the elite athlete development and the sports science side of things. The other half, which is my professional interest, is more looking at physical activity and conditions like diabetes and research into that sort of thing. My professional interest is also getting people to be active and helping them through that.
I have also studied exercise science, so I’ve got a deep personal interest in that side of things. We have a lot of conversations about what I think might work, and then he can set that within the context of all his experiences.
AS. I know some things sound good in textbooks or on a podcast, but having someone tell me how I am going to be able to do that without dying is crucial
AS.Yes, that’s good having that little to and fro of ideas with someone. It’s very important.
SJ Yes. Absolutely.
AS Looking to the race itself. Describe how you were feeling, when you were at Milngavie looking at that starting arch, thinking, oh my gosh, it’s 96 miles ahead. What were your feelings? Were you nervous? Were you petrified? Were you just pretty cool about it all?
SJ. I think I was pretty relaxed. I was confident in my training and preparation, you know, going into it. I had decided I was just trying to take it checkpoint by checkpoint. I’m just going to break it down into small chunks because 96 miles is a long way. If you think about it as 96 miles it can become overwhelming.
I was running with Euan Binmore who I do a huge amount of my training with. We said that we had very similar aspirations for the race, so we stuck together in the early stages trying to run the race that we planned and making sure that we were both eating and drinking and taking it easy at the right times. That was working well for us, and it just felt like it was about an attainment run, in a sense, to start with. So it kept us nice and relaxed. It was quite a surreal start, but it was really exciting to get going and settle into it.
AS It’s obvious from the stats that it looked like Martin took it out quite hard to start with, as Martin does, which is good. You seemed to take the lead roundabout Rowardennan. Then Martin came back to you. After that, you seemed to be in front for the whole race.
How is it, when you are running the best part of 60 miles without seeing anybody?
SJ, I didn’t like it. It was quite nerve-wracking when I came out of Inversnaid. I took the lead there and I got out just ahead of Martin and Kyle Greig. I managed the checkpoint well there and got myself out of there quickly,
I knew that they would be coming up very fast behind me because they are both extraordinary runners. I think it wasn’t until I got to Auchtertyre,(50 miles) when I saw my crew again, they told me that I had a decent lead. But, you know, when you get to Auchtertyre and then Tyndrum, that’s when the race really starts.
If you’re going to do well, you know if you’re having the race of your life or have screwed it up, and people are about to pass you?
One of the things I found interesting because you don’t have race numbers on the West Highland Way was when I was going past people. the hikers and all the tourists on the route, I don’t think they had any idea there was a race on. They were just saying hi and the like as if they thought I was out on a training run.
That just brought a sense of normality to it all, making it quite relaxing.
AS So you just got to the front and although it seems plain sailing, everybody knows at some point in a race like that you can have a bad patch. Did you have any bad patches and if you did, how did you deal with them?
SJ was fortunate not to have any catastrophes. When I got to the upper part of the double staircase, my muscles, like my calf and my hamstrings and stuff were stiff and my left knee was cramping up quite hard. The first mile or so downhill from the Devil’s staircase was pretty rough but I knew that if I could just get myself down to Kinlochleven and out of that checkpoint, I would finish.
I really don’t know how I worked through that. I think I just kept my head down and kept running. I was listening to music and just tried to focus on that and try to just dissociate from the pain as much as I could. I think the thing that we all need to remember is it’s going to hurt at some point and we’ve paid money to be in that level of pain, so let’s get our money’s worth.
AS.That’s a good way of looking at it, And was there a point when you thought, “Hey, I’m actually going to win this darn thing?”
SJ I think when I got up the last big climb out of Kinlochleven heading towards Llandavra, I knew I was still moving quite well at that point. I was still running. Unless a disaster strikes here, I think I’ve got this. Then at the last checkpoint at Lundavra, all the volunteers told me that I had a big buffer, so I decided at that point, “ Well, I’m going to enjoy this last wee section before the downhill from Glen Nevis. There are stunning views of Ben Nevis all around, and I thought, “Well, you know, I’ve not looked up all day, so I’m going to just enjoy this and I got into a very uncomfortable place on the downhill when I hit the fire road down into the Glen.
AS Tell us your feelings as you approached the finish line. When you did finish, what sort of emotions were going through you?
SJ I was very overwhelmed by all my friends and family that had shown up to be there at the finish. A lot of people had travelled a long way to see me there, and I felt like I’d done them proud. My niece and nephew were there, and I got to chase them across the line. That meant a lot to me.
From the race point of view, I didn’t have any expectations of being anywhere close to winning it, so I just couldn’t quite get my head around that for a while. It’s still slowly sinking in, I couldn’t believe it.
AS Well, it is real. There are pictures of you receiving a first-place prize, so it’s definitely real. And post-race, were you able to sleep that night or was your body still buzzing? Sometimes after a race that long, you want to sleep, but you just can’t. How did your body cope with the immediate first few hours afterwards?
SJ. Well, straight after the race, I was very sick. My younger brother had to clean me up. After that, I was okay. I was hobbling a bit. My friend Bruce Smith was finishing around three o’clock in the morning, and he’d put on a heroic effort to get to the finish. I wanted to get down and see him over the line. I got to see Martin Heggie finishing as well. He had just as heroic effort to get to Fort William.
It was great being able to get down and see them, but as soon as we hit the second day, I didn’t sleep. I was just in agony. So, it was a bit uncomfortable.
Stuart Johnston Finishing 2023 WHW race Pic Paul Millar
AS.Just backtracking to the race itself a bit.
You train very hard physically for an event like this. It doesn’t matter where you finish, whether you’re at the top, or whether your Linda, being the last finisher. You all lay your lives on the line for a whole year, just to get yourself to the start line. For some people, it is the hardest thing
they will ever do in their lives. They’ll do it, and they think, oh gosh, no more. But they love the whole experience. And within that, you train the body. But how does Stuart train his inner runner to cope with all of that and keep going week after week? Then during the race, keep that focus. Do you have inner strategies for running as well as the outer strategy
SJ. From the training point of view, it’s easy. I enjoy it. If the races were all to stop tomorrow, I would still go out and train the same way. And I think that is part of what has brought me a little success. I’m just consistent with it. I don’t have to worry about motivation to run for the most part.
During the races, I have a bit of a mix of dissociative strategies by listening to music and trying to count my steps like a metronome. There were sections like through the Rannoch Moor, I literally went one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and counted my steps all the way and that’s a strategy that at times I do need. I guess, I just focus on digging deep.
And there was a thing that everybody knows,
Courtney DeWalter is a real hero of mine when it comes to mental games or mental games you need to help with running. She has spoken about the pain cave and how she visualized it. Every footstep is like taking a hammer and chisel and just making it a wee bit bigger. I would think about every footstep again. It’s just a tiny bit bigger. And trying to visualize it just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I also draw on past experiences as well from races knowing that I have been there before and managed to keep running. You know, you feel you want to walk this section, but you don’t need to walk it. So you better just get running, All these sorts of things.
AS So a good mix of things.
In terms of nutrition, like all of us,
you have a plan together for the race. Did your plan, go to plan, or how quickly did it go out the window?
AS. Yes, it worked well for this one. A big part of what I do in postgraduate work at the moment is around nutrition and sports. This is a big interest of mine. I’ve invested a lot of time in trying to understand how to maximise nutritional strategies and stop gut distress. That’s the number one thing that stops people in ultra races. So I had a plan. I don’t eat during these things. I know that gels and fluids are all that’s really going to go in. I had a plan laid out, and the only real adjustments were Johnny, Chief Crewman, started meeting me with ice lollies, which were superb during the second half of the race. I started drinking a lot more flat Coke too. You could throw me in a stream of Flat Coke and I would have sat there drinking it all day. It was the magic elixir. Apart from that, the nutritional side all went to plan for me.
AS. So pulling things all together, with a couple of additional questions. If you were sitting down with a group of people thinking it might be a good idea to run the West Highland Way in a few years, what would be your best advice to them, in terms of having a one-year, two-year plan to build up to it?
SJ. The first thing I would say is do it. Go for it. As much as there are hills and the fact that you need to learn to power hike, and there are sections on the lochside at Loch Lomond where you’re going to be on your hands and knees clambering over things and doing all these sorts of things like that. Just go for it.
It’s a very runnable race with many sections you can move efficiently on. Just try to get yourself as fit as you can.
Give yourself time, and doing some training blocks where you’re training to get ready for a marathon, can be incredibly helpful.
Essentially, that is what I did for the first half of my first training block for the West Highland Way this year. Essential marathon training. It worked well in just getting me fit. After that, I would say just getting to know the course is important, so maybe doing a race like the Fling or the Devil to get to know it is useful.
If you were doing it as a two-year plan I would go along and experience the race as a crew or a volunteer. That way, you get a taste of the event and the fire going in your belly. You’ll be itching to go.
AS. I’s well recorded that many crew people, even if they didn’t plan to, do end up running the race. When they crew for someone, it’s so infectious.
Have you helped anyone before or not?
SJ. Yes. I was crewing for Euan Binmore last year. That taught me an awful lot, as we were there from start to finish. As much as I enjoy racing, I think I equally enjoy crewing. People don’t believe me, but a large part of what I like about ultra running is the logistics and planning, and all the components that go into it.
AS. Having seen it from both sides, crewing and running it, how do you find the whole feeling of the organization of the race?
SJ. I think that is one of the beauties of it. I know there are races that you need to be a lot more self-sufficient in, but I think it’s cool, to be able to see your crew regularly. That is one of the beauties of it. It can play to the advantage of faster runners who are wanting to shave down time as much as possible. Then also the people that are at the back end of the race, they’re able to get a lot more support. They can have support runners and share the experience with people. It helps at both ends. It was cool to see the race evolve this year. I think the addition of the trackers and having the videographer out, I think that was awesome. The only thing I would change is Coca-Cola at every station.
AS. I’ll put it in my debrief.:-)
SJ. I think I said to John Duncan when we got to Bein Glass, “You got any Coke?” And he said “Not if it’s not in your drop bag”,
AS. Didn’t you get a coffee from his coffee machine?
SJ.NO! I didn’t see that. But I’m just kidding.
AS. What does the future hold for Stuart
SJ. I’ve not got any immediate plans. I had planned to take This summer as unstructured training. A lot of my friends run, but some don’t, so I’d like to go out and do some hiking and cycling with people. It’s my brother’s birthday next weekend, so I’ll go to the pub and have a real beer, and do those sorts of things.
I will maybe think about the latter half of the year if I want to do a race, or whether I’m just going to think forward to next year. Race-wise, I would like to go to one of the bigger European races. I have been eying races Like Trans-Gran Canaria for February.
It would be a great experience to race against some top professional runners and see if I can get in among them.
I think Lakeland100 might be my summer race next year because it’s pretty runnable but double the elevation of the West Highland Way, so it’s a different challenge.
AS.Do you have any long-term ambitions, any bucket list races or any long-term ambitions you want to achieve?
SJ I’d like to do the Dragon Back. I think that would be quite incredible.
Also If I could work out how you get an entry, I would like to do UTMB, but I’ve not got an advanced maths degree, so I can’t quite work out how to.
AS That seems a good place to wind this up before we say something controversial:-). I’ve run out of questions anyway.
Thanks ever so much for your time, Stuart. It’s been appreciated.
SJ. My pleasure.
Race sponsors Ron Hill, Altra, Active Root and Glencairn Crystal offered invaluable support to the race .
Josh Hewitson from Monument Media made a short 5 minute video collage of the event.
You can view it HERE. It is STUNNING!
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