The longest Highland Fling ?

Just in - news from PT on a long-running story from the mountainous west:

On Saturday April 28th Harriers Ian Beattie and Phil Tipping took part in the Highland Fling ultramarathon along with approx 70 other people.The race takes place over the first 53 miles of the West Highland Way and so it starts in Milngavie and finishes in Tyndrum.

The day itself was a wonderful sunny day with a light following breeze from the south east and clear skies the whole way with great visibility. The race started at 6am from Milngavie railway station after the shortest briefing possible. " The only rules are there are no rules !"

Ian and Phil were in part using this race as build up to the full West Highland Way race on the 23rd of June. However this is a fantastic race in itself and was superbly organised by a very friendly group of people and was a big enough challenge in itself. There were checkpoints at Balmaha, Rowardennan, Inversnaid and Derrydaroch Farm. Water was provided and runners had the opportunity to have bags taken to each checkpoint for food etc.

Ian and Phil had very different races. Ian ran strongly the whole way delayed only by some cramp and finished in the top 15 with a time of 10 hours 36 min.
Phil was less well prepared and after a fast first 20 miles slowed significantly to finish in 12 hours 24 min.

There was a great welcome for all the finishers with lots of people enjoying the sunshine and making all the runners feel special as they crossed the finishing line. Each runner received a medal and a nice bottle of champagne. I have no idea how all this was achieved for an entry fee of £10 but it rivals our own 10K for value for money.

All in all a great day out in the Highlands.