Accelerace West Highlands Ultra Triathlon 2008 – Race Report

Swim – 3.5 miles in Loch Morar

Conditions for the 5am swim start were near-perfect, and competitors were greeted with a calm loch, and good visibility. 8 started the swim, with Stuart Reid setting the early pace, and completing the tough course around the islands in 1hr21. Gary Fegan had a similarly strong swim, exiting the water in 1hr 37, with Paul McGreal coming out in 1hr52. The temperature of the water unfortunately meant 3 withdrawals from the swim, and the remaining 5 competitors all testified to the coldness of the water. Carl Atkinson was next to finish the swim – in a time of 2hr19 – a stirling effort given his self-professed fear of both deep water and the idea of sea monsters (the legend of Morag, the monster of Loch Morar, did nothing to quell these concerns), and Nick Mansley had a steady swim finishing in 3hr05. Whilst the water was calm at the western end of the Loch, after rounding the first island, competitors faced a slightly choppier predicament, as the easterly breeze whipped up the surface of the Loch. With the sun rising fully over the mountains at around this time, sighting was also made more difficult by the sunlight off the water being directly in swimmers’ eyes. All this made the swim tougher, and upon exiting the water most competitors were quite looking forward to the prospect of warming up on the bike leg.

A typically relaxed transition for most (warm porridge, sandwiches, tea, and a stint of sitting in their respective support cars with the heaters on full were the approaches favoured by the athletes), and then they were off on the bike leg.

Bike - 175 miles to Kenmore

The course heads south for about 40 miles towards Fort William on a pleasant undulating road, giving competitors a chance to get some warmth back after the cold Loch. Unfortunately the first section heading away from Arisaig has a long stretch of road-works, where the road is being widened and re-surfaced – this should help for next year, but meant some slight delays this year, not that any seemed to complain of the opportunity to rest at the temporary traffic lights.

The order remained the same for the duration of the ride, with the front 3 riders staying within similar distance of each other for the most part, and slightly extending their lead over the remaining two. The weather was also good, with the Highlands bathed in sunshine for the majority of the day.

Stuart Reid finished the bike in 11hr07 (incl T1), a great performance over the 175 miles, with Gary Fegan putting in a time of 11hr32 (incl T1). The last 7 miles of the course along the Applecross coastal road to Kenmore, includes a variety of very sharp ascents and twisting descents, which provides a particularly bitter twist to the tail of the bike. Reactions from the competitors were fairly uniform – most cursing the organisers as they tackled the 4 arrowed climbs over the 7 mile section.

Paul McGreal was next into T2, where he remained for a good hour-long break, getting some all-important warm food, and preparing for the 35 mile run.

Carl Atkinson was unfortunate to suffer from mechanical issues on the bike, when he snapped a spoke on his carbon deep-rimmed wheels, leaving him to borrow wheel from his support driver Pip’s bike. He was also nursing a partially injured knee (possibly the result of a racing schedule which included the Accelerace Welsh Ultra less than 2 months ago). Nick Mansley had a steady bike leg, and arrived at T2 in good spirits, professing to ‘feeling pretty good’. His target was to finish within 24 hours, and he began the run needing to complete the 35 mile course in less than 7 and a half hours to meet his goal.

Run - 35 miles to Lochcarron

Stuart and Gary were by now a substantial distance ahead of the remaining 3 competitors, with Gary steadily narrowing Stuart’s lead. Both made it safely to the top of the Pass of the Cattle in the late evening light of the longest day of the year, at which point the weather was beginning to turn, with the wind picking up and making the top section of what is one of Britain’s highest roads fairly cold. They made it most of the way down the other side of the Pass before the weather truly closed in – bringing with it driving wind and rain, and making the last few miles of the run particularly inhospitable. Stuart won the inaugural Accelerace West Highlands Ultra in a great time of 20hr19, with Gary’s excellent run (7hr07 for the 35 miles including the 2000ft ascent of the Pass a smashing performance) enough to narrow his winning margin to 15 minutes (Gary finished in 20hr34).

Back out on the course, Paul McGreal was beginning the ascent of the Pass, and the weather was really setting in. Both he and Nick came over the highest point in truly miserable weather, but kept pushing on, and made it safely down the other side to tackle the final few miles to Lochcarron. Nick was maintaining a fearsome pace, still aiming to finish within 24 hours, and Paul, most dismayed to hear of the threat to his podium finish, and not overly enthusiastic at the prospect of a sprint through Lochcarron, upped his pace as well. The pair finished strongly in 23hr31 and 23hr55, respectively.

Carl Atkinson was unable to maintain a high pace for the early part of the run, meaning that the weather hit him hard before he’d reached the ascent to the Pass of the Cattle. He battled through the worsening wind and rain on the approach to Applecross, but having been out for approaching 23 hours, was eventually forced to hole up in his support car and hope for the weather to improve. Unfortunately, it showed no sign of easing off, and so after a couple of hours, he took the painful decision to withdraw. The drive to the finish showed this to be the right decision, since the Pass by this stage was even less hospitable.

All the competitors deserve enormous congratulations, since this was a truly tough event – as the finish times show. The swim was an epic, with both distance and water temperature testing the athletes to the limit, and the bike included some testing climbs, including the especially painful climbs in the last 7 miles. The run was clearly made harder by the weather, but tackling the Pass of the Cattle in any conditions is no mean feat.