Welcome to the Altra West Highland Way Race

Update on entries from Ian Beattie, Race Director

In normal times, excitement would be growing as we approach the annual November opening of entries for the Altra West Highland Way Race.  As we all know though, these are anything but normal times.  I thought it would be useful to provide an update of how we see things at the moment, with the proviso that things may well change as circumstances develop.

First of all, we very much hope to be able to put on a race on Saturday 19 June 2021.  Ideally this will be in the normal format, with a 1.00 am start for all entrants, the normal checkpoints, and the prizegiving at Fort William on a Sunday.  However, it may be the case that we have to adjust some aspects of the race, depending on how it is all looking in respect of Covid at that time.  For example it may not be possible to hold a prizegiving, and we may need to introduce a staggered start system to avoid too many runners coming in to close contact.  If we have to make changes we will try to give as much notice as we can, but the very nature of the virus means that changes may be necessary very close to the race itself.  The worst case scenario would be the requirement to cancel the whole race, something we would not want to do but which unfortunately we cannot rule out.

We will not be offering any further entries for the 2021 race.  The vast majority of 2020 entrants rolled their entry forward to 2021, and that leaves us with no scope to accept anyone else.  We will not be operating a waiting list either, as the number of entrants is higher than the figure we feel comfortable with starting the race, and our experience shows a normal drop-out rate of 20% to 25%.

At the moment the Scottish Athletics guidance for licensed events states that no more than 200 runners should take part.  Whether or not this will be in place in June 2021 is anyone’s guess, although it should be noted it may be necessary at some point for us to restrict the size of our field to less than 200.  With this in mind we have decided to offer a full refund of £120 to anyone who decides to withdraw from the race on or before 31 December 2020.  From 1 January 2021 to 31 May 2021 the normal refund of £70 will be made.  Anyone wishing to withdraw should advise me by e-mail at ianbeattie@westhighlandwayrace.org.

I hope this provides you with as much of an update as we are able to give at the moment.  I know we are all keen to see a return to normality, but I am sure you will all appreciate that the situation is completely out with our control.

Ian