The rest of my Virtual West Highland Way journey

I decided to take part in the virtual West Highland Way race on a bit of a whim ("isn't that what you always do?" I hear you ask). I didn't really know if I had it in me to run that far in such a short period of time, but well we are still in lockdown, no races to enter and loads of running in me as it is the summer! So why not?

Summer weather in Penicuik!

Reaching Balmaha (virtually) cemented my enthusiasm to keep going. This was starting to feel like fun! After several days and miles of running and walking in the rain and mist I was beginning to clock up the miles and getting closer to Fort William.

Running with friends made it so much easier, even if Olly didn't quite get social distancing!

Yvonne was the best support runner, she just knew when to encourage, when to make me laugh and when to just say nothing. 

Tracey and Rhona also joined me on different parts of the route. Tracey and put the world to right several times and Rhona made me walk and run up big hills. She also cycled!

I ran so many different places on my 95 mile journey to Fort William. Running in places I had never explored before. This is one of the best things to come out of this forced lockdown - finding new places to run.

One of the other lovely things I found while I was running was all the fairy woods and beautiful painted stones left by children unable to go to school. A beautiful reminder of a very difficult and sad time for our lovely country.

 This is a beautiful pom pom tree which has grown and grown since the start of lockdown. Lots of colourful pom poms have been added as the weeks go on.

In the woods there are lots of fairy doors to find, decorated and left by children who have been learning at home.








Most importantly Kobi, my faithful wee running buddy chummed me on most of my runs. He was always there to keep me company, make me laugh and drive me daft as he chased squirrels and ran through hedges with me attached.

Running would not be the same without him.

So back onto the route of the Virtual West Highland Way race. I think the section I enjoyed the most was the section which took us up over the Devil's Staircase and down into Kinlochleven. A good few years ago I made it to Kinlochleven before I got timed out on the Glencoe Marathon. This is the only race in my whole running career that I DNF'd so it somehow made it feel better that I had made it this far and then ran back out of Kinlochleven back up onto the hills. 

The Devil's Staircase

the path down into Kinlochleven

By this point on my VWHW journey I knew in my head I would make it to Fort William but my body was starting to say enough. I had 2.5 days left to run 32 miles. That was still quite a lot. But head down, got on with the job.

Several runs and walks took me up to 82 miles.

 With 3 miles left to do on the Saturday night and ten miles to run first thing in the morning of the last day of the race, Rhona talked me into running up Turnhouse on the evening of the summer solstice. The evening could not have been nicer. The sun was on our backs on the way up the hill and we were treated to a beautiful sun set with the sun dipping down the back of the hill. The sky was indeed a big sky that night.

I woke early on the final day. It actually felt like a race day, nerves, getting all my clothes ready, sorting out energy gels, water etc. I was running along to meet Yvonne, who was acting as my support runner for the final leg of the virtual West Highland Way race. We started at 8am which should give me plenty of time to get back well inside the cut off time of 12 noon.

 Ten miles to make it to Fort William. We ran a route Yvonne discovered during lockdown, which has become a favourite. It was a bit muddy to begin with as there had been rain the night before, however the sun came out and gave us a fantastic morning of running.

We passed many of our favourite landmarks. The big poo sculpture (although to be fair I think it is meant to be a seed pod) and the teeny tiny Kelpie. We passed Jo, Alia and Christopher who gave us a big cheer.

 Yvonne had to earn her keep as a support runner because at mile 7 which was in fact mile 92 for me, I hit the dreaded wall. I think it was because I knew exactly how far and how hilly it was back to home and I also took a second to reflect upon just how far I had gone in 9.5 days.

Yvonne had to talk me into reminding myself it was only 5km left and that I had run it loads of times before. Finally, I got myself going again and slowly trotted back. We stopped at Yvonne's house so she could pick up her own glass for a celebratory fizz back at mine (public health guidance is that you have to use your own crockery etc).

Then it was the final mile before Fort William. As my watch ticked over to ten miles, we stopped to have a short celebration. 95 miles in 9.5 days ain't bad for an auld runner like me :)

So there we have it, I ran the virtual West Highland Way race. I can't wait to volunteer next year for the real thing. 

I love the idea of running day after day to reach a final destination. that is why this event appealed to me. I am not fast enough to run a one day event like this, or even to enter a stage race. However, I am stubborn enough and have the stamina to keep making relentless forward progress. This was truly one of the most difficult but exciting events I have taken part in. 

I am looking forward to being able to take part in races again, but this was the next best thing, I never once felt I wasn't taking part in a real event. It was so well organised. Huge thanks and congratulations to the organisers for such a well planned and executed race. 

Final total was 24 hours 12 mins and 15 seconds for 95.5 miles completed! 

Thanks to Yvonne, Norrie, Tracey, Rhona, Olly and last but not least Kobi for chumming me on my West Highland Way adventure.

slàinte