95 miles in 95 words

We asked the class of ’22 to describe their West Highland Way Experience in 95 words as they made the journey from Mingavie to the finish in Fort William. Here are some of the responses

Angus Alston

Organizing

Start 

Excited, terrified! 

πŸ•° silenceπŸ™

Go

Well-wishers Milngavie 

Headtorches trail 

blether =friends, 

Dawn Conic πŸŒ„ 

Tricky descent 

Low path πŸ˜

Will Inversnaid ever come πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«!

Selfie Darrio’s post 

Beinglass β˜•οΈπŸ˜‹ 

Auchtertyre -daughter supportπŸ₯°

BoO  pot-noodle πŸ˜‹

Best jelly baby! πŸ˜„

GCoe πŸ€’, poor nutrition intake, rain + head-wind … low pointπŸ₯Ί

cheese sandwich Devils – back!πŸ’ͺ😍. Views πŸ˜

KKL pot-noodle + tea πŸ˜‹ 

Lairigmor light, then dark descent, stubbling, flooding, πŸ€¬ where’s Lundavra ? Finally πŸ˜

Hills🀬πŸ₯΅ 

Fire-trackπŸ˜…. lights FW!πŸ˜€

Sore, tiredπŸ₯΅ walk ? More hills!? πŸ₯΅

Tarmac, where lights?  πŸ₯΅

Wish still leisure centre πŸ₯΅?

Finish πŸ˜…

Hug Ruth πŸ€— 

Tired,relieved, cold πŸ₯Ά 

Clean sheets πŸ› 

Sleep😴 

breakfast πŸ˜‹ 

Prizing giving πŸ€©

Smelly  kit!  πŸ‘ƒ 

Drive back β˜ΊοΈ

Champagne + goblet πŸΎ πŸ˜„πŸ†

Repeat? πŸ€”

Lynne Lamont

Muggy Mudgock, slow and shaded

Quietly north to Drymen, cooler, climbing

Misty, muddy midsummer Conic morning

Lochside ups and downs, water calm

Welcome smile and coffee at Beinglas

John’s bridge, proud and strong

Stomach struggling, energy waning

Barren hillside to the crew at Auchtertyre

Rest time, then onwards beneath DΓ²rain 

Jelly baby reward before the bleak Moor

Waterproofs, angry skies, welcome company

Struggle up to face the Devil, 

Quartz fairies sparkling in torch to Kinlochleven

Harsh night, marching mostly forth on Lairigmor

Bonfire bright, up, then downwards

Eventually welcomed home by friends, we’re done.

Lois Simpson

Milngavie – hellos, hugs, love and nerves. Smiles galore, feels like home. 1am run into the night, settle in.
Dawn brings fresh legs.  Run, eat, run, always North. Sunshine, welcome showers and gorgeous stinky goats. Auchtertyre for chips mayonnaise and stellar crew with me. Doubt creeps in with fatigue. Crew ignore my cunning exit strategies. Waterproofs on across Rannoch moor, lost humour on the march to Glencoe.  Stellar crew suggest a 10 minute sleep – GAMECHANGER!!  Happy stomp in with hallucinations laughs and falling asleep on the go. Prizegiving for goblet then pub. The WHW family together. 

πŸ’™

Michelle Young

10pm, Milngavie bound
Park up, register – this just got real!
No midgies, bonus
Race brief and a moment to remember those no longer with us…
1am – GO!!
Drymen already – that passed quickly!
Near headtorch fail!
Delighted to see crew!
Tummy issues start – Rowardennan!
Tea at Beinglas – bliss!
Pick up support Auchtertyre – so nice!
Tummy issues continue and now feel sick
Keep on keeping on…
Glencoe – weather warning
KLL – the struggle was real, not sure I can leave
Hot tea and Freddo got me outta there
Fire road longer than usual!
Finish line, ELATED!! οΏ½οΏ½

Lorna Mitchell

Wee dark hours, peaceful

Sharing space with companions, and bats 

Waiting for day

Sunrise climb, determined

Wave to friends on a distant Ben

Running to refuel

Loch side calm, focus

Take pictures by the shady woods

Sticking to plan

Heat of day, faltering

Thrill ride that feet need to get off

Thriving on pain

Storm approaches, tense

Fear the journey could end here

Prepare for worst

Darkest hours, desperate

Crawl up and up never ending stairs

Thankful for crew

Sunrise climb, elated

The road goes on, until at last it is done

Where’s my gin? 

Mike Hughes

From Milngavie in midst of night we weave our way along lochside.

A nod to old Dario we’re on our way, soon at Beinglas and almost halfway!

Along cow poo alley, continue our race and soon meet the crew at Auchtertyre place.

Climb from Tyndrum past Brodie’s shop we soon are descending to Orchy stop.

Jelly baby hill behind us across rannoch moor, before we know it we’re at Glencoe!

Up devil’s staircase, over the top now at Kinlochleven just one more stop!

Past Lundavra, Fort in sight, one more mile, now we can smile!

Derek Chambers

a nervous start and brutal conic hill through balmaha I settled down bacon sandwich at rowardennan 

Conquered the tech section and beinglas and then the rain hit cow poo alley rollercoaster auchtertyre farm rice pudding cupa soup and off with support runner  to BOO running smooth into checkpoint pineapple chunks cuppa soup n bread  and off  up jelly baby hill munched said jelly baby and then wind rain from every direction into glen Coe full change waterproofs managed the devils in daylight kinlochleven more soup then dark march through lundavra birds tweet sun up finish  

Rod Wallace

Aberdeen, Milngavie, register, friends, Andrew, gutted, chips,
friends, nervous, hugs, start, friends, chatting, dark, clammy, new
friends, alone, worried, lights, friends, dawn, Conic, Loch, friends,
tough, slippy, technical, friends, knee, puke, pain, friends, soup,
seat, sunshine,friends, support, moor, rain, friends, rain, jacket,
troosers, friends, Devils, darkness, torches, friends, knee, pain,
thankfulness, friends, bewildered, fifteen, steep, friends, sleep,
monsters, singing, friends, second, dawn, hope, friends, Nevis, run,
pain, friends, slowest, ever, Parkrun, friends, finish, handshakes,
hugs, friends, elation, emptiness, tired, friends, dizzy, alone,
crowd, friends, safe, shower, sleep, friends, Donna, Bethany, Karen,
love, love, love

Jamie Aarons

I once heard a tale about some people who ran 95 miles on a trail.
Apparently it was a race and they did it in one go.

I said, β€œNah, that’s not a thing. People don’t do that.” To prove the storyteller wrong, I went online.

Found this forum from these alleged West Highland Way runners.

Turns out, they were real; they had actually done this amazing feat.

I joined them for a social run – my first
trail running in Scotland.

The people, welcoming and encouraging; the trail a sanctuary.

I became one of them.