FKT: Ella Corrick - Scotland Crossing, Ardgay - Ullapool (United Kingdom) - 2024-02-16

Athletes
Route variation
Standard point-to-point
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Female
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
7h 53m 31s
GPS track(s)
Photos
Report

My husband dropped me off at the start- I chose to run east to west partly for the gradual incline and partly to finish near the excellent fish and chips available in Ullapool! This way also starts with the slightly more boring road bits and then is beautiful the rest of the way.

I dunked a foot in the water the other side of the train station, started my watch and had an ungainly start getting back over the fence to the station... there may be a better way to the water that I overlooked.

The weather was pretty good for February, a bit drizzly and around 5-10 degrees C. I carried full waterproofs and wore them for about a quarter of the run, trying to strip down to base layers to dry whenever the rain stopped, but it was often a thick fog that just made everything damp anyway. River crossings came to up about knee-high and were all very straightforward although there was so much surface water much of the track seemed like a shallow riverbed! 

I carried 1.5L water capacity including a Katadyn Be Free filter, but in the end was comfortable refilling from the streams at higher points without filtering- there's always the risk of dead sheep/deer etc higher up so I'm not advocating others copy me! I had a 15L pack and brought a few sandwiches, crisps, and a few cereal bars, plus a dry bag with warm layers, emergency blanket, basic first aid, and headtorch just in case.

I texted my husband a guesstimated +/-15min ETA when I hit my supposed halfway of 17.5mi and was pleasantly surprised that my running maths turned out to be accurate, so he managed to meet me at the finish. Unsurprisingly my watch mileage came out a bit longer than 35mi at 36.3, which isn't a big deal over the distance but still felt a long way when the watch ticked past 35 miles before I hit Ullapool!  

It was a fun finish down the hill into Ullapool, then down the ramp to dunk my foot in the sea again and stop the watch. Overall, I had a great day and would happily run this route again!