Day six: emotions are high in what could be a very close race

Today our incredible participants tackled their longest day yet, as they conquered a whopping 72km of trails in the Scottish wilderness. It has been a tough race so far, with only 151 participants setting off this morning, 45 of whom were running non-competitively.

The route today took participants on some gorgeous trails through salmon fishing country, before heading into the rugged landscape of Assynt, an area known for its distinctive mountains.  

Participants were feeling worn down by the weather at the start of today. A few people started only to turn around and retire a few minutes in. The forecast was for more horrendous weather conditions, but participants were pleasantly surprised by some longer stretches of sunshine. While the wind and rain certainly made an appearance, the slightly lower level route made the going easier, and the route was significantly more runnable than on previous days.

People seemed apprehensive on the start line today

Frontrunner, Laura O Driscoll, has been putting in a strong performance since injuring her ankle on Day 3, but has been slowing down. She was trying to maintain a positive attitude though as she cleared up her breakfast. “I just got taped up, so ready to rock!” she said.

The route today involved a tricky river crossing only 10km in, and with the huge amount of rain over the last few days, many were worried it would be even wilder than usual, with organisers going before the start of the race to check it was safe to cross. All participants are given a briefing on river crossings before they start on Day 1, but there was an extra reminder given at the start of the race today.

Ian Hickson-Mahony had a positive outlook on the day: “I just want to get through today. Once we get through today, it’s over, as far as I’m concerned. It’s the longest day.”

Charles Henderson also highlighted how challenging the race has been. “I think that Day 3 was probably the big test, but this is going to be really tough as well, because everything is broken. My ankles are swollen. I feel tired, I’m not getting enough sleep. Plenty of good food – I’m just exhausted. I’d like to get this one out the way – it’s been a real test.”

Rosemary Byde was struggling with the challenges of the race, but was managing to keep going. “I’ve got a sore ankle and I nearly quit yesterday, but there was no checkpoint to quit at, so I had to keep going. I was in the middle of Fisherfield on my own, then I got to the finish, so I finished, ate and slept, then got to the start line again.”

Phillipa Haworth has stayed in a good mood throughout her journey, and is justifiably proud to have made it to Day 6. She said: “I think it’s just going to be checkpoint to checkpoint and keeping moving. I’m quite impressed that I made it this far.”

Participants were enjoying a more runnable section

After days of bogs and difficult terrain, the route between checkpoint 1 and checkpoint 2 was a wide, undulating trail. The participants seemed to be enjoying this slightly easier running, with some lovely stretches of sunshine interspersed with showers.

Canadian runner, Nick Sunderland, was the first to pass through and seemed on good form.

We asked him what his motivation was for keeping going. He said: “Just knowing we only have one more longer day and they keep telling us the weather’s supposed to get better, so both positive things.”

He was enjoying the camaraderie at the overnight camps: “There are a lot of dinner conversations. We have a lot of common ground. There are lots of people from different places. It’s interesting to hear their different stories and what motivates them.”

His lowest moments came early in the race: “Day 2 was pretty hard – I wasn’t ready for it. I hadn’t trained on stuff like that. I think now I’ve probably adapted better.”

Phillipe Forest is from Belgium. He said it was the scenery that kept him going: “The great outdoors – I just love it… and the chips later on.”

Vicky Savage was still in excellent form, although unsurprisingly, she had some niggles. “My ankle is going a bit but I’ve taken some paracetamol.”

She has a really impressive reason for running: “I’m doing it for charity. I’m a vet and there’s a lot of suicide and mental health issues in the field, so I’m doing it for a charity called Vet Life. I’ve got that to keep me going.” It’s phenomenal that not only is she keeping going, but she’s doing so well in the race.

Irish runner, Ben Gibson, had a good tactic for keeping himself going, which he shared with us as he flew through a faster, undulating section. He said: “I just have a little mantra in my head: ‘focus on the performance – not the goal.’”

He was enjoying the atmosphere at camp. “Everybody’s in good spirits in camp at the end of the day. Lots of good banter and laughter.”

Nicole Morgan and Laura McCauley were running together when they came by, and were motivating each other.

Laura had some positive things to help her keep moving. “The promise of some French fries, the promise of some sunshine that’s been promised all week, and this orange jacket,” she said, indicating the orange jacket Nicole was wearing.

There was a joyful atmosphere at the schoolhouse bothy

The route today passed by the Schoolhouse bothy, a tiny little building which used to be used as a school. There’s still an old-fashioned blackboard there. Today it was a good place to witness our incredible runners as they came storming past, in much better spirits.

Andy, Ian and Peter were all taking on their own multi-day hikes today, but had opted to stay the day in the bothy to shelter from the weather. They all came out to cheer on the runners as they came by, banging pans together and applauding to lift their spirits.

It was wonderful watching runners fly past, spurred on by the happy atmosphere. One participant even stopped to give one of the bothy residents a hug as he came by. Irish runner, Irene Finnegan seemed in particularly good spirits as she came running by.

However, not everyone was having an easy time of it. Charlotte Rosier from France has been performing really well so far, but today she was struggling to keep going.

She seemed absolutely exhausted and a little emotional, saying, “I’m just really tired. My ankle is killing me. It’s just really hard, and we’re really tired.” Although we caught her in a low moment, she did manage to finish the day in an impressive time.

One participant wanted to quit as he came by the bothy, but after being spurred on by one of the film crew, he managed to continue pressing on, seemingly picking up as he battled on towards the next checkpoint at Oykel Bridge.

Laura O Driscoll looked like she was moving well, but she was much further behind today than she had been earlier on in the race. She confessed that her ankle had been struggling, and admitted to a few tears earlier on in the day in a boggier section.

At this stage in the race, the runners have proved that they are physically capable. It is now much more a mental game, as participants must battle the voice in their head telling them to quit.

It’s looking extremely close in both the men’s and women’s races

Graham Walton was the first over the finish this morning. Although previously believed to be the frontrunner, a timing problem meant that his time was reported to be half an hour less than it really was, meaning Norwegian runner, Thomas Øderud, was actually in the lead. Finding out he was second and not first gave Graham the motivation he needed to push him along though, as he absolutely stormed round the course. He managed to close the gap significantly, but Thomas Øderud has still retained his lead by just five minutes.

Graham looked thoroughly exhausted at the finish line though, and he stopped on the ground for a little bit to regain some energy. He said having dry feet for three hours was what kept him motivated today.

He was struggling towards the end though: “It’s just relentless on that flat bit and then downhill. I’d run out of food a bit, because you can eat quite easily on the gravel roads.”

Vicky was the first woman to cross the finish line, and second fastest woman of the day, having stormed round the course. She seemed very tired, but very much focused on her mission: “The wind and the rain, I’ve done something to my ankle. It’s just sore. It’s good – I made it. I’ll get some sleep now. One more big day.”

Claire Gordon was fastest woman in of the day and seemed in an excellent mood. She said: “I dried off on the downhill. Long day, but it wasn’t as long mentally or time wise, so all good. I’m looking forward to the chips part of the day.”

Laura O Driscoll was third woman of the day, but has still managed to stay in first place, having established such a comfortable lead early on. It looks like it could be a really close call in the women’s race, with Vicky and Claire slowly making up time on Laura.

There were emotional scenes at the finish

Howard Dracup found this to be the most challenging day yet, although he looked strong running into the finish. “That was the hardest day of all. Everything hurt. Even my eyelashes. My cells, everything.”

Irene Finnegan was feeling confident but emotional having finished day 6: “You can throw whatever you want at me now.”

There were some tears at the finish. Megan James, Lynette Porter and Holly Davis came running over the finish line together. Both Megan and Holly burst into tears and hugged each other, overwhelmed at having made it to the end of such a long day.

“That was epic,” Megan said. Watching the runners support each other through such a challenging experience has been absolutely wonderful to watch.

This far into the race, many participants were emotional upon reaching the finish. For the first time, many of them are finally allowing themselves to believe that the iconic lighthouse is within reach. However, they still have another long day ahead of them, with 61km of running through Assynt before their shorter final day.

The end is in sight, but participants will need to muster all the mental and physical strength they have in order to make that final push to conquer the Cape Wrath Ultra. You can follow their journey here:

Day Six Results (Provisional)

Top 3 Men on Day 6:

1. Graham Walton (07:20:59)

2. Thomas Øderud (08:07:54)

3. Lindsay Hamoudi (08:44:37)

Top 3 Women on Day 6:

1. Claire Gordon (10:21:05)

2. Vicky Savage (10:33:42)

3. Laura O Driscoll (10:46:00)

Top 3 Men Overall:

1. Thomas Øderud (39:10:43)

2. Graham Walton (39:15:44)

3. David Barry (41:14:08)

Top 3 Women Overall:

1. Laura O Driscoll (45:31:17)

2. Vicky Savage (48:11:40)

3. Claire Gordon (50:14:41)

Feeling inspired by our awesome participants?

If watching our incredible runners conquer the wild Scottish terrain has got you yearning to try it out for yourself, entries are already open for the 2023 edition. Join us on the start line in Fort William for a lifetime experience.