The Year of the FKT
2020 is the year of the FKT. ‘Fastest Known Time’ is an Americanism, but I do like the fact that it allows hill runners to claim records whilst humbly acknowledging that we may yet be subjected to our very British worry of ‘embarrassment by revelation’ of a yet faster time.
With no races on I have been focussing my efforts on some Scottish records:
Classic Ring of Steall
Last year I ran this classic loop clockwise in just over two hours, starting and finishing at Lower Falls in Glen Nevis. I was keen for a rematch and actually wondered if doing it anti-clockwise could be slightly faster as it would allow for a downhill road section at the end. The loop takes in the summits of Sgurr a’ Mhaim, Sgurr an Iubhair, Am Bodach, Stob Coire a’ Chairn and An Gearanach and needs to start and finish at the same point. I chose touching the Lower Falls bridge as my start / finish point. On 27/6/20 I put in a hard effort up Sgurr a’ Mhaim and then decided it would be a waste not to continue round the Ring of Steall in the good weather conditions and with a fast ascent behind me. I managed the 15km loop in 1hr57m34s.
Lochaber Traverse
This is a point to point route taking in the Grey Corries, Aonachs, Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis.
Route: Start at Wee Minister statue on Corriechoille track. Finish: touching the bridge by Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.
Included: Stob Choire Claurigh, Stob Coire an Laoigh, Stob Coire Easain, Sgurr Choinnich Mor, Sgurr Choinnich Beag, Aonach Beag, Aonach Mor, Carn Mor Dearg, Ben Nevis.
Not included: Stob Ban.
We couldn’t find any information on a definitive ‘Lochaber Traverse’ route so made an objective decision on an aesthetic line which we (some Lochaber runners) feel is a good compromise between specifying enough to ensure you enjoy the brilliant Grey Corries ridge in its entirety, but not so many summits as to be overly prescriptive. Purists may wish to visit all Munro Tops as you pass very close to many eg Stob Coire Cath na Sine, Caisteil, etc (but we haven’t specified this as a must). The finish at the bridge rather than Youth Hostel sign misses out a sprint finish across a busy narrow bridge and often busy road, and as it isn’t a ‘round’ there is no need to ‘close the loop’...
Descent of Ben Nevis stuck to ‘Ben Nevis Race rules’ regarding the Grassy Bank.
Having spent a lot of time running these hills I finally went for a race-effort on 30/6/20 to establish 3h32m25s as the record for the 25.5km route.
Mamores Round
I set a record of 5h18m38s in 2017 but was keen to improve on this. The Mamores is one of my favourite places to run so I really enjoyed putting in another race effort to improve the record over the 35km route to 4h49m58s on 8/7/20.
The route includes all 10 Munros plus Sgurr an Iubhair (which used to be a Munro until declassified). Start and finish was at Achriabhach (touching the bus stop sign). Sgurr Eilde Beag - Munro Top not Munro - was not included for the reasons that I didn’t on the previous record, it’s not a Munro, and it’s not included in Tranter’s or Ramsay’s Round.
Tranter’s Round
Tranter’s Round is another favourite for me, it combines some stunning ridge running in the Mamores with the Lochaber Traverse hills of the Grey Corries, Aonachs and Ben Nevis. My 2016 record stood at 10h15 but I wanted to get it under ten hours at least. Having performed well on the Mamores round a few weeks earlier I felt confident that I could push hard on this 59km route, and took the record down to 9hr00m05s on 17/7/20.
The round starts and finishes at Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. It takes in 18 Munros plus Sgurr an Iubhair. I set off at the ‘crack of noon’ to optimise a brief weather window, as well as the benefits of a civilized night’s sleep and breakfast! It was pretty windy but clear and sunny in the middle of the run. In the last few hours up on the Aonachs, Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis it became a bit clagged in and gloomy. As I ran I was gauging my split times and wondered if I could go sub-9hrs. This arbitrary round number was a big incentive to push on hard, and I chased it right down to the finish, missing 9hrs by 5 seconds but getting a solid performance in the process.
Mullardoch Round
I see the Mullardoch Round as being an unsung hidden gem. I had wanted to do it for years but never quite got round to taking the two hour drive up there from Fort William. This summer my partner Suzy and I ran the round over two days enjoying a reacquaintance with these hills which I have done before as Munros but not as a round. We had pretty variable weather - initially very windy and warm, then very wet and later a midge nightmare at our remote valley camp spot west of Loch Mullardoch. The second day was more mixed with some high cloud, but this cleared enough to give impressive views along the An Riabhachan ridge, to lonely Loch Monar to the north, and from the fine looking Sgurr na Lapaich back eastwards.
Suzy Devey on the out and back to Beinn Fhionnlaidh
A week or so later the weather looked good so I headed back with the route fresh in my mind. The 55km route takes in 12 Munros and has a great mix of runnable ridges, some rough ground and a generally wild and remote feel. I chose to start and finish touching the gate by the dam at the end of the public road (NH219316). I had great weather, although it was a bit hot when out of the wind. I didn’t have quite enough water carrying capacity (1.5L) for the spaced fill up spots given the heat. I had loads of gels in a soft flask which leaked losing me loads of calories and getting me very sticky! However I learnt from this and found out that you get gel-specific soft flasks which I subsequently used smoothly on my Ramsay Round. My low point was climbing out of the Mullardoch valley when crossing from south to north - I was hot and bothered, sticky and a bit bonky. This improved when I ate loads and got back in the cooling breeze up on An Socach and An Riabhachan. The last few kilometres takes a fast track back to the loch, then undulates along to the road. I loved this classic day out in stunning mountains, which I completed in 7h40m26s on 6/8/20.
