At the core of Pyllon is a belief that we can all learn from each other. The running experience level or background in the sport doesn’t correlate directly with how useful a seemingly insignificant piece of advice or insight can be when it’s received at just the right time!
We are incredibly fortunate to work with athletes all over the world and we’re grateful when our passionate athletes share their experiences. This a blog by Mark, a very experienced ‘mountain-goat,’ and he was kind enough to share an unfortunate and difficult experience with the wider Pyllon family. Not to be missed!!
The Story
Training was just starting to pick up after the pre-Christmas lurgy that everyone seems to have had and after the long drag of a recovery from the Dragons-back race in September, my motivation and fitness had been poor, but I felt a new sense of purpose. The 2023 race schedule was a few Sky-running races and then a tilt at the Spine race in winter 2024. The hard training would start now and a gradual build back to pre-Dragon levels was planned through January - well that was the thinking anyway.
Sunday’s training was a 3-hour run over the Kilsyth hills. These are my local hills, I know them well. I would start in daylight and then practice some night nav for the second half of the route. These are my winter hills, the higher hills are usually out of bounds for proper running due to deep snow and ice, but the Kilsyth hills allow a decent amount of ascent on rough terrain (and bog) close to home, perfect for a short drizzly sort of January day.
Whilst the Kilsyth hills are not that high (topping out at just under 600M at the Meikle bin) they are rough and seem to catch the worst of the weather. Still, I know the hills well and have done a variation of this route countless times. I packed my usual full mountain running kit, which I have done on any hill day since Cape Wrath obviously thinking I would never need it. But glad to have it anyway. This comprises of the usual spare food drink and waterproofs that most hill runners would have, but also an insulated jacket, 2 pairs of gloves (and down mitts), spare hat, head torch, spare head torch, power block to charge stuff if required, survival bag and pain relief. TBH I have only ever used the insulated jacket 3 times in 4 years and never used any of the other extra kit - but still who knows.
I parked the car at Auchinstarry and headed off in the late afternoon…I was in no rush, I had trained hard the previous two days and could definitely feel Friday’s hills in my legs…I was probably a few minutes behind my usual time, but I was feeling good so thought I would pick up as I headed towards the Birkenburn Reservoir. I was on a downhill stretch just leading to the reservoir and the trail is very easy at this section - a pretty well surfaced Landrover track I have run countless times before. I was thinking about the small river crossing to come which is usually a wet foot, poles out job (I had just taken the poles out in preparation for it) I can’t really remember what happened, I think my right leg slipped on ice, then I must have got my left foot caught on something but anyway, I ended up on the deck. Like most trail runners I’m pretty used to falling, usually without anything other than a couple of bruises, but this one felt different. I looked down and noticed my left foot was sitting at a funny angle to my leg. I knew it was dislocated, so stupidly tried to get it ‘back in’ but when I picked my leg up to try, my foot kind of flopped to the side. This was not good!!!
I guess when things like this happen you go into survival mode. I recall feeling quite calm and matter of fact about the situation, but the odd glance at my shattered ankle was making me feel a bit queasy. I was thinking of the best steps to follow to get help quickly. Fortunately I had mobile signal, so I took the time (4.12), called Anne and gave her details of my location, the injury, the kit I had and access points and asked her to call Police / Mountain Rescue on my behalf.
With Anne working on that, I pulled on an extra layer, popped a few painkillers, checked phone battery (70%), turned my headphones off to save battery and grabbed some food and a drink. It was raining and pretty windy so I thought I would try and crawl to a more sheltered spot. I remember this was very painful because all I could do was drag my foot. I tried to stand up using my poles, but fell instantly, landing on the bad leg. I remember that pain very clearly.
I was obviously not able to start making my way down the hill, so I just pulled on some gloves and mitts and made myself as comfortable as I could in a ditch out of the wind. Mountain Rescue called to get more information - damn I didn’t have what 3 words (I do now), but I was able to give them my exact location on a map and details of access points (they actually sent me a locator link which works with your phone). MR now knew where I was at least, so would get to me as soon as they could. I had heard of 3 hour rescues so was preparing for a long wait.
To be honest the next 55 mins passed quite quickly. I tried not to look at the strange bone sticking out of the bottom of my leg where my foot should have been. I popped a few more painkillers, tried to keep breathing calmly, eating and drinking. I got a few calls from Anne, Mountain Rescue and several from the Ambulance Service (who never actually turned up).
It got dark, which made the sight of the headlights of the farmer’s Landrover coming down the hill all the more amazing. I was quickly lifted into the back seat and then driven down the hill to the waiting Police vehicles who advised that there was no point waiting for the ambulance and whisked me off to A & E. I don’t honestly remember the pain, maybe your mind shuts it out in these situations. In fact, the only time I really recall pain was the fall and the 1-hour wait in A & E (without painkillers).
Reflections
On reflection, I was really very lucky. I never really got that cold. I fell in a pretty accessible place so could get down quickly, and all my kit worked well. I should have had what-3-words for sure, this may have taken 5 mins off the rescue and I probably should have got into my survival bag just in case I was up there for longer. It might have been a different story without a phone signal, so I have been told that I now need a satellite tracker for when there is no phone signal (I guess £20 per month is a small price to pay). But apart from that I don’t think anything more could have been done. It was a great response by police mountain rescue for sure. I am very grateful. I spent the next 24 hours in hospital, much of which was sedated, but also waiting for an emergency operation to put things back together.
I have now been operated on, I will have plates and pins in my legs permanently, but hopefully will be back walking in 8 weeks and we can take it from there. Meanwhile, I have 2 months on the sofa contemplating 6 months of rehab in the second half of the year. I have cancelled all my races just to give myself time to recover properly. I’ll hopefully get back into the mountains before next winter and be a bit more prepared for this accident and certainly appreciate my time in the hills far more.
Written (and experienced) by Mark Smith.
Mountain Safety
Mark was very well-prepared compared to many runners who take to the hills. We recently did an online workshop before our last Run With Pyllon mountain. If you are interested in more of these please let us know.
Huge thanks to Mark for sharing this with us and hopefully he will be willing to write more about his full recovery and return to the mountains.
Mark is supported by Pyllon coach Grant MacDonald, who has a real passion for the mountains and for running around a track endlessly!! :D If you’d like to know more about Pyllon Coaching and working with Grant, Find out More.
