Day four: wild weather takes its toll in the Torridon Hills

Day Three had really taken its toll on the runners, with only 190 brave participants venturing out into the hills of Torridon this morning. The route today took the participants through some of the most dramatic and scenic hills of Scotland – the famous landscape of Torridon.

Although it’s a shorter day of only 35km, it is one of the toughest under foot, with the final section of the route being the boggiest yet. The participants found themselves truly immersed in the mountains, as they climbed up on the lofty mountain passes. The route was particularly exposed to the elements, but participants were rewarded with the rugged landscape of Coire Mhic Fhearchair and its famous three buttresses, a particularly striking spot that proves popular with climbers.

With many timed out the previous day, many participants instead began the non-competitive reduced course. Regardless of course though, the weather made it a rough day for most, and many more will have dropped out, beaten by the demands of the challenging Cape Wrath trail.

The 7am start was much quieter this morning

With a shorter day ahead, and many people having gone home, the usual crowd for the 7am start was much depleted, as many opted to set off a bit later and get some extra rest.

The rain was pouring down in full force as those hardy early bird runners gathered at the start line, ready for their adventure ahead.

Peter O’Kane was feeling tired after a tough day yesterday, but was looking forward to the sights of Torridon.

He said: “I’ve enjoyed it, but yesterday I’ve been pushing the downhills too hard and that’s probably been detrimental to myself. Therefore I have to take it easier. But I like the downhills – you just get a bit competitive with other people.”

Belinda Farmer was prepared for the weather, but had an unusual piece of kit advice. “I’m wearing marigolds and a glove liner,” she said. “It’s more waterproof than other gloves.” It’s certainly a handy tip with the conditions they faced today.

In spite of a tough few days, she was optimistic: “It’s supposed to be stunning and I think it’s supposed to get better every single day. Just got to put up with the wet really.”

The challenging conditions were no match for the two new race leaders

In the participant tent, the new leaders, Graham Walton and Despina Berdeni, were hanging back a bit before heading out into the wild weather. Both from the Peak District, this isn’t the first time the two have crossed paths.

Despina has been putting in a consistently strong performance every day, and yesterday overtook Laura O Driscoll as first female runner. She has thus far been taking the challenging terrain and weather conditions in her stride.

She said: “It’s been amazing. Beautiful. I’m loving the terrain. They’re really nice days out. I’m just taking it steady and trying not to set off too fast, and just enjoy it. I’ve heard there’s some technical bits after Ben Eighe, but I’m just planning to take it steady and keep moving.”

Graham is thrilled to find himself first place after putting in an impressive performance over the first three days. He is only just in the lead though – Thomas Øderud is less than half a minute behind him, a rare occurrence on an event of this length!

He said: “I’m just going to plod along. It’s far – you can’t really think about [winning], but I’m quite glad to be at the top of the leaderboard ­– I’ve got a screenshot,” he laughed.

“It’s the mud – it suits us,” he said, when asked about his strong performance.

“We’re from the Peak District, so we’re used to the boggy moorland which is definitely good training for this,” Despina chipped in.

With bog being the main struggle for many participants, Despina and Graham definitely have an advantage from their Peak District training.

Participants were battling the elements in the Torridon Hills

There was only one checkpoint today, but many participants were struggling with the brutal weather up on the hills. Even down in the checkpoint, the wind and rain made it difficult for the checkpoint team, who were taking it in turns to shelter in the vans to stay warm. Participants had their full waterproofs on as they came down off the hill, having battled the extremes of weather on the exposed ridges of Torridon. One participant, Nicole Morgan, had blue hands from her gloves which had got wet.

Canadian, Nick Sunderland, filled us in on just how savage the weather was out there. “It’s sleeting and horizontal rain. Up the top it’s blowing. At least it’s a short day. You’ve just got to wear enough stuff and stay warm.”

Many were determined not to let the challenging weather conditions get them down.

Charlotte Rosier, from France, was one of them. We managed to catch her during one of the few gaps in the rain, when the sun was making a feeble attempt to appear through some cloud. She said: “It’s amazing. I’m having a great time. Now the rain’s stopped finally, so it’s better. I was up there with the rain and the wind, so was struggling. But we’re almost halfway so it’s good. We’re happy.”

Dave Douglas was still in high spirits and had a smile on his face as he came through. “It’s fantastic – loving it. They say that the Eskimos have got 1000 words for snow, and the people in the Sahara have 2000 for sand. In Scotland, there’s trillions for rain.”

Laura O Driscoll is still in the race

At the end of Day 3, Laura was unsure if she could continue in the race, having rolled her ankle earlier in the day. However, she was determined not to let her injury get her down and set off again this morning with a determined look in her eyes, in a testament to her resilience and sheer grit. She looked strong in spite of the brutal weather and her injury as she came running through checkpoint 1 today.

She was moving well when we spoke to her: “We’ll see how it goes today. It’s okay – the poles are helping though it’s hard on the downhills. I’m just going slowly.”

Despite her injury, Laura was still the second fastest woman of the day, proving she is still well up to the challenges of the race.

There was a sense of relief on the final descent into camp

The weather conditions refused to let up as the day went on, with very few intervals of dry weather. The participants who made it back down into camp were all thoroughly soaked.  

We saw Dave Douglas again as he ran the final descent. He still miraculously seemed unfazed by the wet weather that others were finding so challenging. He said: “What a fantastic day that was. 21 miles – they don’t get much better than that. It just gets better, every day.”

However, the day wasn’t without incident: “The last big river, I lost my footing and was up to my shoulders. That was pretty frightening.” 

Claire Gordon was looking cheerful knowing the end was in sight: “It’s quite cold and wet, but it’s been a good day. A shame not to see more of Torridon. Hopefully everyone’s doing okay.”

Back at camp, Charlotte Rosier was enjoying some chips having survived a tough day. For her, navigation was an added challenge: “The past few days the navigation was easy because there was a track, but today was hard because there was no track.”  

“It’s a tough race definitely,” she said. “I hope my knees will be okay because they are really painful.”

Laura O Driscoll seemed in good spirits back at camp. With her future in the race hanging in the balance the previous day, she was relieved to find herself having completed the fourth day in a good time.

“I don’t know how. Luckily I was in a group of five so we managed to find the way, but it’s hard because you start getting cold when you slow down.”

Despina Berdeni and Graham Walton both put in incredible performances today, both strengthening their leads in the competition. However, for others, today proved incredibly tough.

It’s been an extremely challenging day

It’s on days like these that the need for mandatory kit as a bare minimum becomes apparent, with many more dropping out due to the extreme weather.

Today, many fell victim to the brutal Cape Wrath Ultra. However, it was truly inspiring to see many runners pushing through adversity and continuing their journey with a smile on their face. Those hardy participants who did manage to make it through are now halfway through their journey.

Tomorrow, they must journey through the beautiful, isolated mountain glens of the Fisherfield Forest, an area known as ‘The Great Wilderness’. 

You can track participants’ progress here:

Day Four Results (Provisional)

Top 3 men on day 4:

1. Graham Walton (05:00:26)

2. Thomas Øderud (05:13:20)

3. Magnus Sellberg (05:25:04)

Top 3 women on day 4:

1. Despina Berdeni (05:17:02)

2. Laura O Driscoll (06:16:35)

3. Vicky Savage (06:47:00)

Top 3 men overall:

1. Graham Walton (25:53:55)

2. Thomas Øderud (26:07:15)

3. David Barry (26:43:42)

Top 3 women overall:

1. Despina Berdeni (27:00:28)

2. Laura O Driscoll (28:13:30)

3. Vicky Savage (31:15:08)

Take on your own challenge in 2023

Think you can conquer the Cape Wrath Ultra? Or fancy experiencing the best the Scottish Highlands has to offer? Entries are already open for the 2023 Cape Wrath Ultra®.