In September 2019 I took a trip back home to visit family and friends. While over there I spent some time running most of the West Highland Way. The West Highland Way is a 96 mile trail heading mostly in a north-south direction from just outside of Glasgow to Fort William. The southerly end is fairly flat and as it heads north the climbing gets more intense. Overall the elevation gain adds up to 4,300 meters (14,000 feet) give or take a bit. Adding a detour to the summit of Ben Nevis which is the UK's highest mountain brings that up to about 5,800 meters (19,000 feet).
I have signed up for the West Highland Way Challenge Race, so on the last weekend of May 2020 I will be running the entire length of the trail in one go. Well that's the plan anyway, but a lot can happen in an endurance event like that.
I wanted to see what I had got myself into so I used part of my time back home running as much of the route as I could. Some of it was self supported out and back running, and other parts were by pickup/dropoff at various points. More on that later.
Map of the route from Milngavie to Fort William. The markers on the route are what would be a recommended daily mileage for "sensible" people hiking the route over multiple days.
Day 1 - Milngavie to Conic Hill.
The weather wasn't great, but I didn't have many options given my short stay in Scotland. I took the train from Glasgow city center where I was staying out to Milngavie to the starting point of the West Highland Way.
The start of the West Highland Way in Milngavie town center. I took this picture the day before my run on this section. It was nice and dry then, but the next day when I started my run from here it was wet and cooler. The next time I see this sign will be for the start of the race, and it will be in the dark as the race starts at midnight.
The route heads through a park and along a river bank. Once you are out of the built up area it opens up into low rolling hills and some flatter moorlands.
The next four pictures show the route through a valley and up to Conic Hill. When I run the race this will all be done in the dark. The trail surface here apart from a few muddy puddles is all fairly good and easy to run on.
I ran around the left of this hill and passed it.
The first view of Loch Lomond.
Conic Hill in the distance. The route goes over the top of this one, and this is the biggest climb on the south end of the West Highland Way.
After stopping at the top for a few minutes to take in the views I turned round and headed all the way back to the start, making the mileage for day 1 about 36 miles and about 900 meters (3,000 feet).
The route heads downhill here, but I'm saving that part for the race. It will probably be just about daylight when I get here in the race so I'll be able to enjoy the views after here.
Elevation profile for day 1.
Day 2: Drymen to Glencoe Ski Center.
Due to the remote locations of the next sections my friend Euan dropped me off and we had a pickup time estimate arranged so I was able to run longer sections and not have to do an out and back run.
A few miles into day 2.
This part of the route has some amazing views and passes through a diverse environment. There was a bit of climbing to do but nothing too bad. However, given that it's a good bit further north and well into the race route I won't be feeling quite as energetic as I was this day.
Lots of interesting views along this section.
Heading down into Bridge of Orchy. First signs of civilisation for quite some time.
The surface was starting to get a bit rougher. I'm used to running on uneven and rocky trails but a lot of the sections of the West Highland Way are really deep ruts and big rocks so it makes it hard to run on.
Somewhere between the picture above and the one below I caught up with a couple out on mountain bikes. It's usually much faster running up a hill than biking up it. So we had a good long conversation to help pass the time of the long hill climb and I ran alongside them for a few miles. Once we crested the top of the hill and headed down towards Glen Coe they went on ahead as I wasn't going to try to keep up with a bike going down hill.
Getting closer to the end of the route for my second day.
Looking down towards the road again.
Rather than running down the hill to wait at the bus stop for my pick up I decided to head left at a path that intersects the route because the lure of a hot mug of tea was pulling me in. I met up with the couple on the mountain bikes in the Glen Coe Ski Center coffee shop and enjoyed the warmth and conversation while I waited on Euan to pick me up.
Elevation profile for this section. Total miles for today was 17.5 with 600 meters (2,000 feet) of climbing.
Day 3: Glen Coe to Fort William.
The section I ran for day 3 started from about 2 miles further up the trail than my finish point yesterday. I decided there was no point in running that as I had already seen what I need to know prior to the race.
Euan dropped me off where the West Highland Way crosses the main road (A82) and I once again headed uphill and over some really interesting scenery.
Starting point for day 3
After the first climb up out of the valley floor the route winds past other hills and mountains. There was a lot to see on this section, but some of it was really long distances where I could see the route and could see how far I had to go before the scenery changed again.
The route is visible all the way across this valley in the picture below.
Amazing scenery everywhere.
I really liked this section. The abandoned cottage was in a really remote location.
First view of Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain.
Passing by the Ben.
Looking down towards Fort William where the end of the West Highland Way awaits me.
Made it to the finish.
During the race the route passes by this sign and heads into Fort William to the official race finish line. Once there you have the option to head back out and run up and down Ben Nevis. My plan is to go out with the intent of doing this extra section. I think If I went with the mindset of "lets see how I feel" after the race I wouldn't do it. Time will tell.
The race is 96 miles, and if you complete it in under 24 hours there's an additional reward, so me being me I'm aiming high again and hoping for a sub 24 hour finish.
For day three the final section it was 21.5 miles and elevation gain was 900 meters (3,000 feet).
Elevation profile for this section.
Summary
The race is going to be a tough one. But that's why I do this crazy stuff. My mantra "if it was easy everyone would do it" is calling to me.
I'm looking forward to the race. Time will tell how it goes.
There's a lot of running to do to get to the fitness level I need to do it, but that's also a huge part of the enjoyment for me.
The website for the West Highland Way has more detail on the route etc.
https://www.westhighlandway.org/
The website for the race I am doing.
http://whwracechallenge.co.uk/
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