A welcoming club on the North West of Edinburgh
Cape Wrath Ultra
By CoachKev | Published | No Comments
(Ed Note: All the photo’s from Selina’s event are in a really nice pdf attachment that you can download here which i’d recommend doing https://www.edinburgh3.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Cape-Wrath-Ultra-2021-photos-for-tri-club.pdf )
The Cape Wrath Ultra is currently Scotland’s toughest endurance race (I say currently, as there are so many crazy races sprouting up all the time). 400KM spread over 8 days, from Fort William, through glens and mountains, up the northwest coast of Scotland to Cape Wrath. Days vary in length from 26km (the last day!) to 71km. The route is not marked, 20% is trackless, there is 11,200m of ascent and 100 river crossings. Before the days of good GPS watches, you needed to be able to read a map and use a compass; when tiredness sets in, you may regret not having invested in one of those, as strict cut-off times don’t leave much wiggle room for wrong-turnings, and late-comers are forced to withdraw. Sleeping in tents, washing in rivers, managing injuries, and keeping yourself well fuelled and hydrated while on the mountains just adds to the fun. The event is normally held in May. I signed up in May 2019, expecting to race a year later. COVID postponed the event twice, so we eventually set off on 1 August 2021. Midges are a good reason the race should stick to May…
The Rules
As with most multi-day events, there’s a pretty strict set of rules; mandatory kit to be carried at all time, that includes waterproof coat & trousers, hat, 300g synthetic insulated upper layers, headlamp & spare batteries, gloves, survival bag, whistle, map & compass, food, large GPS tracker – 3-5 items are checked every morning; failure to have an item can result in a strike; three strikes and your race is over. You have to stay within 200m of the recommended route (as marked on the map or GPX file), cannot take food from the breakfast/evening catering tent for your day-time running, and you cannot accept anything from anyone, that would not be commercially available to all participants. So, no lifts, no drops of sweets/provisions from friends, no bartering for showers; but you can stop in a pub to buy yourself a drink en route if you have time!
The Route
Can only be described as “achingly beautiful”. Bogs, boulders, tussocks, shingle, loose rocks, trail, hills, glens, lochs, rivers; you get a bit of everything – and on most days too!
Day 1 – 37KM (23 miles) – 628m ascent – Fort William to Glenfinnan
Day 1 starts with a short ferry trip across Loch Linnhe to the shore opposite Fort William. It was a beautiful, warm day – we passed an adder basking in the sun on the trail – and there were no real hiccups as we gradually made our way up the forest road to Cona Glen and then downhill to Loch Sheil. The campsite was by the Glenfinnan viaduct, picture perfect, and with the evening sun, and a bath in the nearby river, it really felt like we were all on holiday! The passing tourists weren’t quite sure what to make of us!
Campsites were brilliant – lots of portaloos, taps / sinks to wash and refill your bottles, catering and medical tents, and communal tent to eat and pick up your Ultra Mail. Food was vegan throughout the week, which was plentiful and tasty; there was always lots of soup and chips upon arrival, which was just what you wanted after a day on the hills. Participants could also receive Ultra Mail via the Cape Wrath website, which was particularly welcome as the race progressed and phone signal became less available.
Day 2 – 57KM (35 miles) – 1,942m ascent – Glenfinnan to Kinloch Hourn
Depending on your finishing time, you were recommended a start time between 7am and 9am. As the week progressed, many of us played it safe and started as early as possible, as you could easily be timed out at a checkpoint or fail to reach camp by 10pm.
I’d recced Days 2, 3 and 4, so was feeling pretty confident about what lay ahead. The day took us through spectacular countryside, up three big climbs, on forest trails, past several bothies, along rivers and lochs, ending at a campsite in Kinloch Hourn, which is at the end of the longest dead-end road in the UK. The only tricky part to look out for was a right turn up a hill about 6km from the end when you think you should be continuing to skirt the loch round to the campsite – really tough, rocky, overgrown path, which caused a few twisted ankles on the descent to camp. There were apparently sightings of sea eagles at camp, but I unfortunately missed them! Should you ever be interested in exploring the area, there’s a great little B&B at Lochhournhead Farm, where Derek & I stayed back in July; great food, warm showers, comfy beds…sadly not to be enjoyed on the race though.
Day 3 – 68KM (42 miles) – 2,491m ascent – Kinloch Hourn to Achnashellach
Everyone warns you that Day 3 is the make or break day. Though not the longest, it is the hardest, with a couple of really steep climbs up to the Saddle, down what should be a lovely descent to Kintail, but which starts with a path that is currently covered with huge boulders from a rockfall in spring – incredibly technical running. After a bit of road running through Kintail, you take a forest path up towards the Falls of Glomach, which are the most voluminous waterfalls in the Highlands. Again, I was glad I’d recced this in July, as then I’d taken the wrong path and started descending the gorge itself, which was heart-stoppingly scary! I was able to course-correct a few runners who were making the same mistake on the race, and thankfully we ended up one of the possible – still very tricky – tracks down to the loch; I descended some of the path on my backside, as I do not have a head for heights and was terrified at points. I was relieved to have some relative flat alongside the loch, and delighted to see three wild horses gallop out ahead of me and up the mountains. Before the day was over, there was still a boggy section, another big climb and yet another ankle-twisting descent before crossing a huge river to get to the campsite at Achnashellach forest. The midges were out in force by then, and not even bathing in the river provided much respite!
There was lots of celebration by those of us who did finish Day 3, as stats show that most drop-outs will happen by the end of Day 3, so if you get there without injury, you’re likely to get to Cape Wrath. By the end of this day, I had picked up shin splints, which were only to get worse with a further 238KM to “run”. I was reminded of a story my physio had told me about one of his clients, who picked up injuries on Day 3 and had to withdraw on Day 7. I nervously approached the physios and begged them to help me get to Cape Wrath. This began an evening and morning ritual of them creating a stirrup for my foot to stop it dropping and K-taping the front of my leg; the practical help was also peppered with some ‘tough love’ warnings about not causing long term damage…
Day 4 – 35KM (22 miles) – 1,396m ascent – Achnashellach to Kinlochewe
The Cape Wrath Ultra has a huge and detailed map, outlining each day’s route and checkpoints. You knew it was going to be a good day when all of the day’s route could fit on one window of the map! 😊
Mercifully, on Days 4 & 5, we still had until 10pm to complete about half the distance of the previous two days, so I knew I had time to take it a bit easier and try not cause more damage to my shins; I could power-walk my way with poles. The first part of the day was an easy route down to Glen Torridon, then what is – on fresh legs – a gentle uphill climb to the waterfall at Ruadh Stac Mor, which is spectacular. If you pause to drink in the views from up there, you feel like you are in the most barren of wilderness. The descent is pretty hairy, as there is no obvious path, then it’s lots of ups and downs through bogs and boulders until you finally make it to a beautiful trail path down to the campsite at Kinlochewe. A number of runners stopped in the shops to stock up on chocolate, fizzy drinks and even a bottle or two of wine to help ease their pains!!
Day 5 – 44KM (27 miles) – 1,287m ascent – Kinlochewe to Inverbroom
Another short day of total wilderness through the mountains of Fisherfield’s. I don’t remember a lot other than seeing a father in just his underpants chase his toddler round their house – he clearly wasn’t expecting 60+ runners to enjoy the spectacle – and the absolute surprise of being greeted by Sally Roland on a short part of road connecting two trails near Dundonnel! I was now regretting not having brought music with me, as I was being tormented with Julie Andrews’ The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music repeating over and over in my head! The descent to the campsite, beautifully lit in the late afternoon sun, was visible for several kilometres, but the route to it was down a very steep and windy path, overgrown with tall bracken and heather. The river bath felt good that evening!
Day 6 – 72KM (45 miles) – 1,572m ascent – Inverbroom to Inchnadamph
Day 6 is the longest day of the race, so everyone was keen to get this one done. Those of us who made it to the next day, however, would complain that Day 7 was much tougher! Day 6 has a lot of runnable trail and road, as it makes its way through huge estates and salmon-fishing country. Speed walking with my poles was about as much as I could manage that day. We had a real mixed bag of weather, and by the time we were making our way down to the overnight camp at Inchnadamph, the terrain and weather took a turn for the worse. Lots of uneven countryside, little to no track on much of it, and then just as the wind picked up and heavens opened, we had to make our way down a gorge, which was treacherously slippery thanks to the lashing rain. It’s fair to say it was a pretty miserable experience! I’d hooked up with another injured runner, who kept me going with her eternal optimism and constantly reminded me to eat and put on more layers. We arrived back late to camp, to a huge round of applause from the faster runners who were very sympathetic to the weather we had had to endure on the last stretch! The race camaraderie was great, and not only did the faster runners help us get swollen feet out of muddy shoes, but brought us food to our tents! I must have spent a good 15 mins crying with pain in the tent; but was determined to get to the end by this point, in spite of the injuries, as I didn’t ever want to come back to do it all again!
Day 7 – 61KM (38 miles) – 1,960m ascent – Inchnadamph to Kinlochbervie
Having missed a bath on the previous evening and the long day having left little time for legs to recover, I was very fearful of what another long day would do to my body. Day 7 gave us everything – lots of ascent, lots of bogs, lots of ups and downs running alongside lochs. You pass the highest waterfall in the UK, which was the only highlight of the day I could remember! The final four miles are on undulating road, which in another race might be a welcome relief; but with aching shins and quads, it gave little relief or pleasure. Tonight should have been the night of a warm shower in the local school’s sports hall, but it was freezing by the time I stripped and got in! It did give me a chance to see just how my body was faring – my left knee was by now hugely swollen, I was retaining over 8 litres of water as my body (and no doubt kidneys) was in crisis mode, and my left shins were purple with bruising from the shin splints. I was also disappointed to learn of a few more retirements from the race that day – you couldn’t help but be absolutely gutted for the person who was timed out after a navigational error and another who sprained their ankle in one of the many holes you had to carefully avoid. Relief at having made it this far was combined with a reality check that it could so easily have been any of us.
Day 8 – 26KM (16 miles) – 760m ascent – Kinlochbervie to Cape Wrath
The final day, and for many, Day 8 is the ceremonial lap of the Champs Elysée. It started easily enough on roads and runnable trails, and the weather was glorious, making for an all-round lift in moods. After crossing the glorious beach of Sandwood Bay, which is both empty and clean, thanks in large part to being four miles from the nearest road, you then embark on 8KM of trackless cross-country climbs and bogs, across military training ground, reminding you that this ultra is no walk in the park! Seeing the coast up ahead, you felt like you had come to the end of the UK and could plunge into the sea! It would have been easy to make a final navigational error, as you expect to crest the next hill and see the lighthouse at Cape Wrath, but it remained elusive to the end, clouded by fog at the finish line. Getting there was the biggest relief ever; and the tuna sandwich & chips, washed down by two cups of tea, were just as good as being showered in champagne!
We then had an hour’s mini-bus journey to the pier, from where a short crossing to Durness brought us back to civilisation and Derek & the boys were excitedly waiting. It was an evening of celebration at camp that night, with medal ceremony, alcohol flowing and laughter at the memories captured by the media team in their daily videos – which despite the pain we were still experiencing, somehow made us feel like we might actually want to do it all again…
Top Tips
- Ensure your training is specific to your event – for a hill running, multi-day event, less time on the streets and more back-to-back hill running days make most sense
- Find someone who will hold you accountable to what you REALLY want to achieve – COVID really impacted my ability to get my head into the zone to train seriously for this event, which of course impacted the outcome
- For trail running, make sure you’re strengthening both ankles and shins to avoid injuries – Run/Skifit programs online are very good – https://befitapps.com/runfit/runfit-phase-1/
- Listen to the advice of those who have done the event, even if you don’t agree with everything they say; e.g. my physio told me to bring my poles, just in case I got injured – thank heavens I listened to him, in spite of never really using poles beforehand
- Don’t underestimate refuelling with real food; people who relied on gels and CLIFF bars for 8 days struggled to eat by middle of the week; tuna wraps (long-life wraps, tub of mayo with salt, plastic fridge tubs of tuna) and salt & vinegar crisps added variety to the usual assortment of nuts, sweets and chocolate
- Camp admin is vital – there is a lot to do every evening and a checklist of things to do each night is useful to ensure you get away as close to 7am as possible – eat/drink, charge watch, wash in river, attend to injuries, empty daysack/dry any wet clothes, set up bed in tent, eat dinner, read Ultramail, check tomorrow’s route, pack tomorrow’s day sack, set alarm for 5am, sleep…
- Laminating notes of key info for each day is useful: number of hills you need to climb and the ascent of each; number of checkpoints and what time you need to be there – helps keep you focused when you’re really tired and the map is making little sense
- Use your K-tape from Day 1; things are going to hurt, and K-tape gives your body a better chance of surviving muscle ache and chafing
- Top kit: Garmin Fenix 6, running vest rather than backpack (lessens shoulder pain), collapsible lightweight poles, K-tape, collapsible cup to grab water from waterfalls/rivers (refilling bottles takes time), painkillers (!), Innov-8 TerraUltra G270, one size larger than normal – right mix of cushion and grip for all types of surface – & Sealskinz QuickDry socks – not a single blister, in spite of the river crossings, bogs and stones!
