Prone – Loch Lomond, Scotland

July 2024

Marshals to the rescue, again!
When I did this race last year, I had forgotten to bring my puffers for my Asthma, and by 3k my breathing became an issue. Fortunately, at the 4km mark, a marshal gave me a couple of puffs on her inhaler, and I was able to complete the 10k, albeit at a much slower pace than usual.
Somebody said to me that as they watched me cross the finish line, they thought I must have caught the sun, as my face was bright red. Little did they know. This year I would not be making that mistake again.

As the starter horn blew, the previously calm water in front of the Lodge on Loch Lomond started to bubble, as

paddles dug in and boards shot forward.
There were 2 events on today, the 5k and the 11k, and I was doing the 11.
Rhona, (who was guiding me again), had told me that the first 2k was pretty much a straight line. So, as I headed off, I could make out a couple of SUPers either side of me. For that first 2k, I did my best to try to keep them in sight, (not easy for a blind guy!!)
After 1k, the paddler on my left had moved from my 10 o’clock, on to my 11, and then out of sight. Fortunately, I could still occasionally make out the paddler at my 2 o’clock.
As we came up to the 2k mark, (I knew this, because I use a Marlin open-water swimming audio device to give me distance and speed), my right hand paddler shouted something to me.
I absolutely love prone paddling, as it’s a real sensory thing – water splashing on my face and the sound of the water rushing past me. The downside is that in lumpy water, (which it was), it can be very hard to hear what people are saying.
All I could hear was the word “right”. I guessed that this was directional information, so started to turn.
As we went around the corner, the paddler seemed to shoot off, and soon they were out of sight. Occasionally, a black vertical shape would appear out of my blind spots ahead of me, and I did my best to chase it down.
(Rhona was trying to guide me with our Milo devices, but we kept going in and out of range.)
Again, we turned right, and I seemed to be catching up with a paddler. There was a flash of white, which I took to be a paddleboard. It started at my 1 o’clock, but I slowly got closer with it at my 2 o’clock, and almost at my 3.
I tried to make out what I was seeing, I thought I could see that the board was pointing towards my 10 o’clock. When I looked over there, I could see 2 big lumps on the water, which I interpreted as islands. I knew the route took us through many islands so I took an educated guess, turned my board to 10 o’clock, got on my knees and went hell for leather, hoping to overtake the SUP.
After 60 strokes on my knees, (yes, I count my strokes), I dropped to the prone position and looked up to see how I was doing. I was definitely getting closer to the islands, but the SUP was nowhere to be seen.
I stopped paddling and looked all around, but there were no more flashes of white. “Oh heck”, (or words to that affect).
I stopped the board moving, and tried to listen for something – paddle splashes, shouting, anything – but there was nothing.
I paddled a little bit closer to the islands, hoping that the white flash of the SUP would stand out against the black islands, but there was nothing.
Rhona was out of range, and I couldn’t hear a thing. I shouted out to Rho, but got no reply.
I sat up on my board, with my legs in the water, and my arms outstretched, hoping that somebody may see me and realise that I was lost.
I sat there for a minute or so, waiting for Rho to come back into range on the Milos, listening for any clues.
Then I heard a load of cheering and shouting. It sounded like there was a party going on somewhere on the shores of Loch Lomond to my 1 o’clock.
I shouted out “is anyone there”, deciding not to follow it up with “knock once for yes and twice for no”. But there was nothing.

A few seconds later I heard the party again. Was it really a party, or could it be marshals cheering as other racers paddled by?
Just as I started heading towards the noise, Rho’s Milo came into range and she told me that I was now heading in the right direction.
A minute or two later I passed the party, (of one!) It was a marshal and she had been trying to get my attention. What a star!!
For the rest of the race, Rho and I kept within range of each other, and she was able to guide me, with a bit of help along the way from the other marshals.
Thanks to Ally, from Glasgow Paddleboarders, the wonderful volunteers, Lodge on Loch Lomond, and GBSUP for a fantastic event, in a beautiful location, (I am told).
And also thanks to Ally, Allistair, and Alison for the pics and vids.