FKT: Rob Bourne - Cape Wrath Trail (United Kingdom) - 2021-05-07

Athletes
Route variation
Glenfinnan Variant (West) - Deprecated as of June 1, 2024
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Supported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
5d 16h 57m 20s
Report

I set out originally to try the first ‘unsupported’ run along the Cape Wrath Trail. Unfortunately there was an issue in the 4th stage which would disqualify me from that category. As such, the attempt is now technically Self-Supported (details below) 

 

Start at 1645 in Camusnagaul on 1/5/20. 

Stage 1 - 41.15km / 678m

https://strava.app.link/U0ikgYZC4fb

 

Stage 2 - 68.06km / 2848m

https://strava.app.link/0B6RTD6C4fb

 

Stage 3 - 58.2km / 2525m

https://strava.app.link/YwvZYDaD4fb

 

Stage 4 - 46.21km* / 1603m

https://strava.app.link/V5dnw3dD4fb

 

Stage 5 - 61.7km / 1798m

https://strava.app.link/uSy1gdiD4fb

 

Stage 6 - 47.84km / 1845m

https://strava.app.link/KOCK2YmD4fb

 

Stage 7 - 40.94km / 906m

https://strava.app.link/jDi29lqD4fb

Finish at 0942 at the Cape Wrath Lighthouse on 7/5/21

*trench foot with sore blisters became an unmanageable issue late early that evening. After not eating/hydrating enough, failing to make the planned bivvy/bothy spot and getting cold quickly an unbelievably kind stranger offered my their garden to sleep in. I wasn’t in a capable state to make decisions at this point and was given hot tea to drink and a snack before drying my feet and getting an extra couple of hours rest. Despite this being the only lapse in the run’s ‘unsupported’ nature, I’m happy this happened. I wasn’t in a good condition and it would have been dangerous to take on another climb during the snow storm in order to make the next bivvy/bothy stop. 

Kit -  (~5kg) 30L backpack, stove, sleeping bag, roll mat, bivy, tarp, poles, 2x500ml soft flask, layers (base, mid, down and gortex shell) and many small essential miscellaneous items 

Food - (~6kg) Vegetarian freeze dried meals, nut butters, soups, oats, dried apricots, nature valley bars...you get the gist 

Water - collected from burns on the way. 500ml soft flask active use & 500ml reserve flask for cooking/emergency.

Weather - everything! Snow storm, hail, head wind, rain and sun. Temperature was well below average for May. No midges though!! 

Day to Day - broadly speaking, I’d wake up at 4am and be running by dawn. I’d have ~2 hot food stops (freeze dried) throughout each day before stopping as the sun went down ~2130. I’d dry my feet, stretch, refuel on food and be asleep by 2300

Travel - entirely public transport