Martin Kao surprised even himself when he began descending the final mountain of the Race Across Scotland after spending over two and a half days traversing the Southern Upland Way.
After all, Martin had only begun running two years previously, in 2021, during his studies in the south of his home country, France. He discovered trail running and quickly moved to longer distances: “I hate the pain of short and fast races, I’m not that fast, and I love spending time outside.”
Until the RAS started, Martin’s race resumé included several 100km races. Therefore he acknowledged that the RAS was a big step up. He said: “I’m young, so my experience in ultramarathons is limited; what is an ultra, after all?
“For me, Race Across Scotland is the only real ultra I have ever run, so it’s my favourite without a doubt! Running 100km takes a long day, but you don’t have to spend two nights and three days outside; it’s on such another level.
“Scotland was so exotic compared to where I’m used to running. It was a family adventure; my parents and my siblings were there to support me, so the memories were powerful. I also loved the intimate atmosphere of the race, which I haven’t found at other big events.”
The Race Across Scotland is GB Ultra’s title race, covering 215 miles across Scotlands Southern Upland Way, taking in an incredible 7,282m (23,891ft) of elevation. Racers will combat the established trail, elevation, changing weather and sleep deprivation.
After seeing it on social media, Martin was drawn to the race and “loved the idea of crossing a country by foot.”
“I knew that Scotland was a beautiful country, so the question was ‘, Is there a better way to visit a country than running to cross it from coast to coast?’ The hardest part in a race that scares you is registering for it, so that’s what I did without overthinking; we’ll see how to survive it!
“It was impossible to say no to this opportunity even if the challenge seemed unachievable and was frightening, but I had a year to make it possible, which was exciting.”
Martin prepared for over a year, explaining that he split his preparation into two sections. From April until June last year, Martin built a strong base by focusing on a 125km ultra he had planned, engaging much of his energy in running and sporadic cycling periods.
“I’m part of a trail club in Aix en Provence where I live, so I was training with everyone during the week (speed, strength, downhill, uphill), which is helpful. On weekends I did long runs (6-8h), sometimes two days in a row. I didn’t follow a specific program, only listening to my body and smartly placing my long runs.”
The second training phase went as follows: “Run as much as possible.”
He said: “I knew I had to break my routine and leave my training comfort zone. I decided to run to the office in the morning and go home the same way, running around 35/40 km daily, which was a great daily mileage.”
Recognising that this training style is only sustainable with suitable recovery periods, Martin would do 4 or 5 training days and then have a “recovery day.” He said: “It’s more than a physical preparation. It’s also excellent mental training!”
“Every morning, you must be determined to wake up and run. You feel tired and sleepy and sometimes don’t want to do it with the accumulation of fatigue. But it’s when it becomes hard that you’re starting to really train; with that in mind, I successfully achieved strong consistency in my daily life.”
Martin mixed up his runs with backpacking in the Alps some weekends, walking 8 to 10 hours daily, saying he enjoyed this portion as it didn’t feel like training.
He continued: “Three weeks before the race, I spent a week in Haute Loire at my grandparent’s house, where I ran 80km daily for four days. My goal was to run approximately the race distance in four stages and in a similar environment and terrain. I then recovered for three weeks waiting for the Race Across Scotland to start!”
The first half of the race saw Pawel Cymbalista take the lead; however, a battle for the top ensued as they headed past the halfway point.
Despite the battle, Martin said he only saw Pawel twice during the race. He said: “I spent the first day and first night with another runner, Dan, whom I left at CP5. I knew that I was near the front, but for me, the first runners were too strong and too fast; it never occurred to me that I could catch them!
“I was focused on my pace, enjoying my race and spending as much time at checkpoints as needed. I was not in a hurry: I took time to eat, drink and let my parents take care of my feet.”
At checkpoint six, the second-place athlete DNF due to a pre-existing injury, marking Martin as second place, with Pawel still far ahead.
Martin described this section of the race: “I enjoyed this section. It was stunning, and I was shocked to catch Pawel maybe 7 km before CP7. We didn’t have that much time to talk. He pushed hard, and I saw him disappear in front of me. I arrived at CP7 5-10 minutes after him, I think.
Martin explained that he spent quite some time at this checkpoint and seriously considered dropping out of the race. His ankles were swollen, and his feet were sore beyond belief.
He received a text from his younger sister, who supported him in Scotland and urged him to continue. He knew he had more left to do and refocused.
He said: “As long as I can walk, I’m not giving up. At this moment, with more than 150 km to go, I knew that I would finish the race. Pawel was not of my concern; he was far away, and I was in bad shape, but my goal was to finish the race.”
Martin continued, arriving at the ninth checkpoint, Pawel still in the distance. He was already being congratulated on his second place, as both first and third were a reasonable distance away on either side of him.
“I was so happy. I knew that If I continued like this, I would finish second! It was an awesome performance for me, who has never run this distance.”
Much to Martin’s surprise, Pawel and Martin collided once more just before the 11th checkpoint. After such a strong race, Martin explained he didn’t want Pawel to be injured after such an astonishing performance, incredibly so close to the end.
“He was ok, “just slow,” he told me. So I was leading the race with 50 km to go. I have never led a race before, and honestly, I wouldn’t say I like the extra pressure it puts on your shoulders.
“I was about to drop out from the race 100km before, and now I was about to complete it; for me, the race was already a success. I didn’t care to finish first; I didn’t want to fight for first place; I just wanted to enjoy the last section.
“I was feeling good, so I pushed hard for 30 minutes to make a gap that he couldn’t fill in the last 20 km. Suddenly I was pain-free; I was running uphill, flying downhill. It was awesome.”
Martin finished in 60 hours and 35 mins, almost two hours ahead of Pawel Cymbalista, who finished in 62:22:46 and three hours ahead of third place Adam Gray in 63:33:26.
Race Across Scotland 2023 Race Results
“It felt so great to finish. I still don’t realise what I did. It’s still quite unreal for me. Firstly, I was so grateful to my family, who helped me all along the way. I knew I could not have made it without them, so I immediately thanked them at the finish line. As you can the in the pictures, it was quite an emotional moment…
“I also felt a massive feeling of achievement. The training requires so much effort; you have to be disciplined, say no to a lot of stuff, spend less time with your friends, and find the will to train when you don’t want to. Finishing this race is a success you build, thanks to your daily efforts and sacrifices. Seeing it pay off is an awesome feeling; you feel at the right place.”
Since the end of the event, Martin has been recovering with vigour, stating that apart from his heels and Achilles tendons, he didn’t feel any other pain in his body.
“I continued to visit Scotland with my parents, so I walked “a lot”, which was nice to accelerate the recovery of my ankles muscles and tendons. I slept well at night, so I don’t feel sleep deprivation anymore.
“Let’s see how it goes Monday morning at work… can’t wait.”
Martin is accumulating points for the UTMB lottery and will be racing in Nice at the end of September. After that, he says he intends to take a well-deserved break.
For more information on the Race Across Scotland, visit the GB Ultras Website Here.