Graham Walton

I signed up back in May 2021, but the change in date to September, meant I couldn’t do it. I watched the daily videos……and then I couldn’t help myself. I was still really keen to do that lovely sunny race through the wilds of Scotland. 

Generally over the last 5 years, I have turned myself into a real plodder, running slowly round the hills of the Peak District. I thought I could do well in the Cape Wrath, so I got myself a coach (Marcus Scotney who won in 2016) and started following his plan in October 2021. I also bought myself a bit of kit, which I used, broke, swapped, and tested over the winter.  

I was nervous – I had put a lot into this race. It was my 50th birthday present for myself, and I had paid for the race, a coach and kit… Let’s not add it up. I do love racing, but the amount of preparation made me nervous, plus the distances to cover does weigh heavy on your mind. 

Highlights

The landscapes are amazing – the energy and power of this wild place is unforgettable. Remote, rough, but also while you are running, the terrain is relentless and unforgiving. So the moments to remember are generally with people. I ran with Despina for the first 4 days, which was great. I have run with her once before in the Peaks, and we are well-matched moving through these environments. My anxiety levels were much higher when she left due to injury, and we had a moment when we had to start later than planned where we just sat on the bean bags for half an hour chatting. We got a few selfies, and at that point we were both winning, which neither of us could quite believe. This race suits runners from the Peaks. 

Sally Fawcett (2021 female winner) sent me a message on Ultra mail, which was very exciting, and I definitely moved a bit lighter the following day because of this. The tracker is also quite powerful, when I realised the amount of people who were dot watching. Again, I felt a bit lighter, felt I had to concentrate on the nav, or everyone would laugh at my mistakes. The ultra mail makes a massive difference, and it’s a very visible way of demonstrating how well-organised the event is.  

The last summit of the race on day 7 was with Mark Oakes, who I had chatted with most days. We stuck together for about 30 mins, and had a fist bump to mark the occasion.  Then the last day was funny, as we set of in a bit of a group of the first 10 runners, and I ran with Jack for most of the day.

Tent 29

It is really nice at the end of the day when everyone makes it back and is fit enough to start the next day. 5 of us in tent 29 made it to the end. Paddy, Doug, Dave and Henry, and then we were joined on later days by Graham, Dave 2, and Chris. It is bonding, but also quite wet in the tents. The people who leave are also a good source of kit that you forgot or didn’t realise you needed. So thank you for the water bottle from Danny, and the buff from someone else. Doug also had a bottle of whiskey which was part of his 20kg… madness, but thank you. 

 The Challenges

The toughest day was day 6 – Thomas had been setting off behind me most days by about 6 mins and catching me up. There is a lot of trail on day 6, and I was slower on these runnable sections, so I ran hard on the down hills and bogs, and then just focused on eating well, and keeping moving on the runnable bits. I beat him by 17 mins on day 6. This meant I was only a few minutes behind him at the start of day 7. A bit emotional on the line, the day had taken its toll on my mind. In the same way your back, ankles and knees are twisting, banging and straining, your mind is doing the same, and it takes its toll. 

What kept me going

However, there is energy that you are given from everywhere. The food, sleep, the ultra mail, good nav decisions, but also the environment. The crazy power of the rivers, the hail and wind on tops of the hills which make you run a lot faster. I saw a white deer on top of a ridge on the last climb of day 2... There is a white deer in the Peaks somewhere that has been photographed a couple of times in the last 2 years and I have been looking for it ever since I heard about it… Again, to see this deer gave me energy/belief/power/magic. 

Tips if you’re thinking of signing up 

My advice is just to enjoy running, enjoy the environment, and enjoy the journey. Do parkrun, run with your kids, run to work, run to the pub. Enjoy running, but also prepare.