Rigby Round

Write up by Martin Stone, from Fellrunner Magazine # 131 (Autumn 2021)

FINLAY WILD – RIGBY ROUND (CAIRNGORM MUNROS) RECORD



Finlay attempted the Rigby Round while he was recovering from breaking his arm and it helped him to check that his fitness and conditioning were on track as he prepared for his BG. The weather was superhot and Finlay aimed to avoid some hours of heat by setting off from the Norwegian Stone at 01:30 on 24th July 2021.  He was travelling anticlockwise and as usual solo unsupported, in the best tradition of the way Mark Rigby originally attempted the Round.  It was an amazing night with a huge full moon and very still weather.  Finlay took a bit of a tumble on Beinn Bhrotain and every walker he met for the next 10+hrs told him that he had been bleeding!  Climbing out of Lairig Ghru he was thankfully in the shade but from then on (about 9am) it became very hot!  His strategy was to drink prodigious amounts of water, filling up whenever he could and alternating 4 soft flasks. He was fortunate to find enough streams and never felt fluid overloaded despite drinking far in excess of 10 litres. A cap and sunglasses provided real benefit, although the heat certainly slowed him down. The long pull to Beinn Bhreac across the Yellow Moss was his low point as he couldn’t get into a rhythm on the tussocky ground. 

Finlay’s time was 16hrs 40mins 14secs which was 33 minutes quicker than Oli Johnson’s excellent solo unsupported time set a month earlier on June 18th 2021.  Finlay also did a skimo variation of a clockwise Rigby Round last winter which was a very different but equally memorable outing!