Race Director's Report – 2022 Cape Wrath Ultra®

When I was asked to summarise the event in three words, I came up with wind, rain and mud! Whilst these elements of the event will be forever burned into our collective memory, the event is comprised of so much more. Perhaps three better words would have been resilience, perseverance and determination. This sums up the approach of both the participants and the event team this year. Bravo to all of you. Survivors of 2022 should be celebrated!

Without a doubt, the 2022 edition has been the toughest Cape Wrath Ultra® yet, and the headline stats easily confirm this: 

• 2022 – starters 270, finishers 104 – 38% success rate

• 2021 - starters 86, finishers 52 – 60% success rate

• 2018 - starters 177, finishers 110 – 62% success rate

• 2016 - starters 95, finishers 59 – 62% success rate

The average completion rate across the first three editions was 61%. 2022 has flipped this statistic on its head. There is no doubt that the challenging conditions took their toll on everyone – whilst it was obvious that there was a high attrition rate from the participants, there was also our highest attrition rate ever from the event crew this year, with a number of people leaving early. Being constantly cold and wet in a job that requires you to work and live outside in challenging, time-pressured conditions would sap the enthusiasm from most teams…

However, I was hugely impressed at how the Cape Wrath Ultra® team refused to let this deter them. The incredible sense of esprit de corps from the Event Team and participants alike to get the job done was a real highlight for me on this event. It was truly inspiring to witness the event team go about their duties with a smile and a shared enthusiasm for making the best of the challenging conditions.

We have very carefully considered and calibrated risk assessments and standard operating procedures around the weather because of the massive effect it can have on every element of the event. As well as the obvious course-related difficulties, this also includes all our site operations, as temporary structures (such as our marquees and tents) are extremely vulnerable to high wind.

Many people have asked me about the viability of Day 4, and whether it was the right decision to push ahead with the full course on that day. Certainly, the weather conditions were challenging, and measured 5 on our scale of 1-10 for poor weather (yes – I do have a high tolerance for poor weather!). That evening, several participants needed treatment in our medical tent for hypothermia, and one required a significant emergency response involving our Response Team and a helicopter evacuation from the course.

However, I believe that we don’t organise events for complete novices, and our philosophy is that there needs to be some uncertainty in the outcome for real adventure to take place. Managing yourself in poor conditions is all part of the Cape Wrath Ultra® challenge, and our safety management systems (race control, communications, GPS tracking, response team, medical team) sit as passive operations in the background right up until they are needed, precisely so that the runners can enjoy a real adventure in the mountains.

Some race statistics

As mentioned above, only 38% of those who started finished the race. Here are some more statistics that you may find interesting:

• Out of 270 starters, 196 of these were male, 74 of these were female

• There were 81 men who finished the full course, and 23 women who finished the full course

• The oldest finisher was 63

• The youngest finisher was 27

Event team gilets

Many participants have asked whether they could purchase the Event Team gilets we were wearing. We do have a few left, and these are available from our Event Shop.

Results

Huge congratulations to this year’s winners, Graham Walton and Laura O Driscoll. You can now use these links to see the full results:

Thanks to the Event Team 

This year’s Cape Wrath Ultra® will certainly go down in history as the toughest edition to date. I am sure that memories of the wild wind, rain and mud will be cemented in our brains for years to come.

It is a cliché, but we simply couldn’t have delivered this event without the hard work, enthusiasm and dedication of the whole event team who worked tirelessly to make this a great experience for participants. We’d like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude for a job extremely well done in very taxing circumstances.  

Numerous participants that I’ve spoken to have highlighted how much their interactions with the event team improved their experience and lifted their moods. It goes without saying that it really is the people that make the event. You are all awesome, and it has been a privilege to work with you all.

Catering

Johnny Boult

Julie Boult

Molly Weeber

Morna Grant

Sasha Levrier

Anne Marie Lord

Eleanor Smith

Finlay Harrison

Fiona Massey

Graeme Braid

Heather Ohly

Hilary Malyon

Laura Smith

Tammy Ruvino

Tim Glasby

Timothy Swan-Smith

Media Team

Charlotte Workman

Christiaan Le Roux (No Limits Photography)

Fay Preene

Harriet D'Alessio (No Limits Photography)

Jimmy Hyland

Ross Brackley

Reuben Tabner

Stephen Ashworth

Steve Small

Main Camp Team

Adam Malloy

Alan Shand

Alastair Baillie

Andrew Richards

Christine Caldwell

David Knight

David Mackie

David Roy

Duncan Anderson

Graeme Lornie

Guy Redmond

Ieuan Belshaw

James Bolm

Jamie Lawler

Jim Parker

Katie Robertson

Mark Lindsay

Martin Kinney

Michael King

Paul McCleery

Sam Hill

Sarah Clough

Sharon Dickson

Tim Miller

Wiebke Lammers

Hill Team

Lawrence Jones

Louise Beetlestone

Mark Caldwell

Tim Laney

Info Point Team

Clare Webb

Euan Ramsay

Hilde Dupont

Katie O'Donnell

Manned Checkpoint Team

Andrew Hastie

Douglas Harvey

John Irvine

Luke Elliott

Nick Stafford

Susan Nash

Marquee Team

Alex Moreman

Antony Fleming-Williams

Elliot Dennis

Jessica Byrne

Jim O'Reilly

Joshua Branch

Kieran O'Sullivan

Mike Schneider

Patrick O’Reilly

Seb Boulton Oliver

Timothy Exley

Zakius Benaton

Medical Team

Abigail Coomes

Charlotte Hattersley

Declan Phelan

Denise Axelsen

John Hayes

Morag Bowie

Saleyha Ahsan

Race Control Team

Abbi Forsyth

Matthew Gemmell

Response Team

Dave Howarth

Katie Cole

Natalya Kennedy

Paul Horabin

Rich Griffiths

Stuart Smith

Start/Finish Team

Derek Allison

Karen McPoland

Matthew Walker

Michael White

Pam Nix

Peter Cleghorn

Steven Rooke

Technical Services Team

Barry Hirons

Ian Cowie

Kevin Nairn

Malcolm Cochrane

Nikki Sommers

Philip Sturgeon

Tom Rouse

Timing/Tracking Team

James Thurlow

Tom Jobling

Course Operations

Joe Faulkner

YB Tracking

Michael Sentch

Ourea Management Team

Charlie Williamson

Eleanor Claringbold

Graham Gristwood

Greg Mickelborough

Janie Oates

Jen Edson

Lisa Knipe

Lucy Scrase

Neil Davies

Sue Dowker

Tom Hecht

Thanks to landowners and stakeholders

We would also like to thank the landowners and stakeholders along the route, without whose permission and co-operation, this event would not be possible. In fact, there are literally hundreds of landowners and stakeholders whom we continue to liaise with and whose support and goodwill is essential for the smooth flow of runners along the course through the Scottish Highlands. Thank you!

Ongoing Health

Rest & Recovery

Whether you completed the full course or not, every one of the participants’ bodies has taken a significant battering. We would highly recommend an extended period of recovery now. Anecdotally, it seems that having 4 weeks rest, followed by around 10 weeks of light exercise works well. All too often, we have seen participants in our expedition-length races return to regular training too early and end up with chronic fatigue and/or injury problems. Take the time to let your bodies heal!

Lyme Disease

We would also like to reiterate the danger of Lyme’s Disease from tick bites. Whilst this is unlikely, if you develop a ‘bulls-eye’ rash around a tick bite or experience flu-like symptoms in the next 30 days, we advise a trip to the doctors. Ensure that you explain you have been bitten by a tick. There is more information on the Lyme’s Disease Action website.

COVID-19

As you probably know, we had a number of COVID cases among the crew at the Cape Wrath Ultra. This was not unexpected, as it is still relatively high in the general population. Everyone who tested positive left the event, and we infomed anyone who had been in close contact. It’s a difficult line to draw, given the approach to COVID in the UK now, and we’ve tried to get the balance right between protecting you, keeping the event going, and what’s practical. Bear in mind that the incubation period for Omicron seems to be around 4 days. Therefore, please be aware and careful, especially if you are around vulnerable people. We’d also be grateful if you could let us know if you test positive within 5 days after the event.

ULTRA MAIL™

As expected, ‘Ultra Mail™’ proved extremely popular with over 10,000 messages of support sent to the participants (and event team) during the event. We love this component of the event, and it is an obvious boost for participants at the end of a long day. We heard from many participants that the Ultra Mail™ was a real motivator for them when the going was tough.

Feedback

Feedback is very important to us. We are always really keen to hear your thoughts. Whilst we don’t promise to incorporate every piece of feedback received, we do promise to read and consider it carefully. Participant feedback has helped refine and improve the event from one edition to the next, and it has been instrumental in planning our events going forward. If you have absolutely anything to feedback or comment on, please do fill in the questionnaire, or if it's easier, feel free to drop us an email with your comments here: [email protected]

GPS Tracks

All the participants' and most of the event team's movements over the 8 days are public and available for everyone to view in two ways:

1. You can use your (non-mobile/tablet) laptop or desktop computer and head to the GPS tracking page, where you'll find a replay icon in the top left corner - which launches the replay scrubber. `you can also choose to view just a few names (instead of the entire field) by using the favourites function.

2. If you would prefer to get your hands on the raw GPX file output of each participant's GPS track, you can download in one batch (zip file) on the results page to your computer for full interrogation! Apologies – we cannot offer any technical support in the use of these.

Live Event Coverage

We hope your friends and family watching from home enjoyed the live coverage of the event from our brilliant media team, and also watched the participants’ dots gradually head north on the GPS Tracker page.

You can catch up on all the action on the event by reading our event blogs on the news section of our website:

You can also view some of the incredible photos taken by No Limits Photography and enjoy the awesome social media coverage on the Facebook and Instagram pages. Finally, you can find the brilliant daily update films put together by Steve Ashworth, Ross Brackley and Jimmy Hyland on our Youtube Channel.

Cape Wrath Ultra® 2023

The Cape Wrath Ultra® will return next year, and we’ll all have our fingers crossed for some better weather. The dates are 21st-28th May 2023. The event is nearly full already, so if you were considering returning now is the time to get your entry in!

Montane Dragon’s Back Race® 2023

If some of you are wondering, ‘What next?’, then the 2023 edition of the Montane Dragon’s Back Race® must surely be on your radar. Tackle 6 days of challenging mountain running on the mountainous spine of Wales. Entries open on the 25th August this year – don’t miss out!

Finally…

We know it has been a tough journey, but witnessing the resilience and grit of our participants and event team pushing through under challenging conditions has been a real privilege. We hope that regardless of whether you were a complete course finisher, did the reduced course, or only did a few days, you are incredibly proud of your achievement, and that fond memories of your Scottish adventure stay with you forever. Do get some well-deserved rest, and we hope to see you again in the future for another exciting adventure.

Yours in mountain running,

Shane Ohly,

Cape Wrath Ultra® Race Director