West Highland Way Ultra

West Highland Way Ultra – Sunday 21st June 2026

The West Highland Way ultramarathon is a 96 mile (154 km) continuous footrace along Scotland’s most famous long‑distance trail, running from Milngavie to Fort William. It is one of the world’s longest‑established and most respected ultra‑marathons, first held in 1985 and is definitely not for the faint of heart, featuring a 1am start over a 35 hour time limit, with a frankly terrifying elevation gain of around 14,000ft – nearly five munros. It cuts across some of Scotland’s most iconic landscapes, including Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and Ben Nevis. Entry is limited to 300 places, by ballot, and all runners must have a full motorised support crew. Greenock Glenpark Harriers had four runners taking on the challenge this year – Kev Craig, Alan O’Rourke, David Duncan and Dave Graham.

We’re relying on the runners for their reports of this race as there’s no way anyone else can describe the effort involved – these are summaries of the runners experience posted from their own stories. David and Dave’s accounts will be added as soon as possible. Full Results are HERE.

Kev’s Story

Finished 30th, 21h 40m 06s (pb) – Kev returned to the West Highland Way Race for the first time since 2019, having spent the intervening years crewing for other runners and even helping run the Bridge of Orchy checkpoint. He had planned to race in 2023, but a sudden hospital stay three weeks before the event left him sidelined for months. Securing another chance this year felt like a gift — and he arrived at Milngavie in good shape after a strong, consistent block of training.

In the days before the race, nerves hit hard. Even though he had completed the Devil o’ the Highlands earlier in the year, this was the real test of how far he’d come. It was also the first time he’d been awake past 10pm in over a year, and the race didn’t even start until 1am. The start line atmosphere — always electric — settled him. After words from race director Adrian Stott, a presentation to Ian and Sandra Beattie, and the usual health warnings from Sean Stone, the runners disappeared into the darkness.

Kev ran the first 19 miles with Runrhaw, reaching Balmaha ahead of schedule. After a quick refuel, he pushed on, hitting the next checkpoints exactly on plan. He shared the long stretch to Beinglas with John O’Donnell, arriving right on time and delighted to see the Greenock Glenpark Harriers marshalling team — Yvonne, Kirsty, Jill and Elaine — who gave him a huge lift.

At Tyndrum, Karen, Brendan and Greig sorted him out with food, water and fresh socks before sending him back onto the course. But approaching Bridge of Orchy, things changed. He realised he wasn’t sweating despite the heat, hadn’t peed in a long time, and fluids were sitting in his stomach. He needed salt — badly. The march over Jelly Baby Hill and across Rannoch Moor became a grind. Greig met him coming down from the ski centre with salt tablets, and by Glencoe Kev was moving again, though now hours behind his original plan. Instead of chasing sub‑20, he reset his goal: get a PB.

He and Greig managed to run most of the descent from the Devil’s Staircase into Kinlochleven. After another feed, Kev headed onto the Lairig Mòr for the final 14 miles, managing some decent running patches to Lundavra. But by the top of the fire road, he was shattered. Everything hurt — but he knew he could still march his way to a personal best. He’d spent much of the afternoon talking about getting a pint at the finish while the pub was still open. With 200 metres to go, he found one last burst of effort and crossed the line to a warm welcome from John and Helen Munro.

Kev finished in 21 hours 40 minutes, a new PB — an achievement that meant even more given that a year earlier he doubted he’d ever be able to do “mad stuff like this” again. It was his third WHW goblet. He described WHW weekend as the best of the year, full of brilliant runners, crews and volunteers. He gave special shout‑outs to Alan and Stuart for earning their first goblets, and to Cameron for the Mountain Dew and shared training miles.

As for that celebratory pint? It never happened. After a shower, Kev climbed into the van, into his sleeping bag, and was unconscious within seconds.

Alan’s Story

Finished 139th, 28hrs 29m 28s – Alan described his West Highland Way Race as an epic, emotional adventure from start to finish. His Friday began with a physio session, last‑minute supplies, and an attempt to rest before his support crew — Andy, Viki and Chris — drove him to the Milngavie start line. There he met fellow Glenpark Harriers Kev, Dave and David before the 1am start. The course had been turned into a bog by days of torrential rain, and Alan’s feet suffered early. Dave Graham kept him company to Beechtree, settling his nerves, and dawn broke as Alan climbed Conic Hill into Balmaha for his first checkpoint and the first of many rice puddings.

He ran strongly from Balmaha to Rowardennan, feeling confident over hills that had beaten him earlier in the year. After a bacon roll from Andy, he tackled the brutal technical lochside section to Beinglass, where he arrived exhausted but welcomed by Yvonne and a group of Glenparkers. Swollen hands became a concern, but he pushed on. Music lifted his spirits on the way to Tyndrum, where he gained 11 places and met Chris for a much‑needed lemon Fanta. A big Glenpark turnout greeted him at the checkpoint, and after chips, a slush puppy and blister treatment, Viki joined him as support runner for the next 20 miles. They passed the time with nonsense chat — including a 30‑minute debate on Aulds cakes — and Viki casually informed him he’d just completed his first 100km!

At Glencoe, after soup and more foot repairs, Chris took over for the final marathon to Fort William. Although Alan’s head was strong, his legs were gone, and he didn’t run another step after the Devil’s Staircase. The mood shifted to long silences, dark humour and escalating swearing. At Kinlochleven, Sam greeted them with trademark abuse, and after more noodles, rice pudding and foot repairs, Alan briefly considered quitting — until Suzy quietly told him, “You’ve got this.”

The final 15 miles were the hardest. Running was impossible, and even purposeful walking deteriorated into staggering. Sleep deprivation caused hallucinations — including Michael Myers and a black Alsatian — and he wrestled with fear, fatigue and the question of why he does this. He concluded that pushing himself to the edge is what makes him feel truly alive.

Reaching Lundavra and the top of the fire road brought huge relief. He attempted to run the descent, only for Chris to stroll past him laughing. Sam joined for the final stretch into Fort William, where Alan finished at 5:30am in 28 hours 29 minutes, greeted by his entire support team.

After a shower, a beer and a short sleep, he attended the prize‑giving with Kev and David. Emotion overwhelmed him as he collected his finisher’s goblet. He shared a hug with fellow runner Kirsty, who finished one place behind him, both declaring “never again.”

The adventure ended with the whole crew at the Tyndrum chippie, where Alan ate his fish supper, lay down on the grass, and promptly fell asleep — still unable to believe what he had achieved.

Alan wants to offer sincere thanks to “incredible support crew of Chris, Viki, Andy, Sam and Pam. They made you feel like a king for the day with every check-point treated like a formula one pit-stop getting me comfortable, shoving food and drink into me and dealing with my mangled right foot and all with humour and tough love. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart 🥰
Most importantly to my beautiful wife Suzy. Not just for the support on the day but for being so supportive from day one through all the tough training days.”

David’s Story

Finished 166th, 30h 44m 46s – account to follow

Dave’s Story

DNF at 12h 54m 12s – Dave started the race feeling slightly nervous, but calmer than he usually is before a big event. He ran with Alan to Beach Tree, keeping the effort easy and chatting along the way, everything feeling smooth and under control. He reached Balmaha right on schedule and was able to eat and drink well. From there he took it steady to Rowardennan for a quick stop, more food, more fluids, and continued with a comfortable run to Inversnaid, feeling better than he had expected.

He took ten minutes at Inversnaid to rest his legs and fuel up before the technical section. Dave made it through to Beinglas unscathed, feeling generally good aside from the expected fatigue. The volunteers at Beinglas were outstanding — he described it as the best stop ever, complete with excellent coffee.

After that strong reset, he set off toward Tyndrum where he would meet his crew for the first time. Roughly 3 km after Beinglas, he rolled his right ankle badly and immediately heard and felt a pop. He tried to walk it off, but the pain was severe. After taking painkillers he continued walking, but every step became more painful. A short attempt at jogging made things worse. He managed to hobble another 6 km to the halfway gate, but the pain was escalating and the painkillers weren’t helping. At that point he made the difficult decision to stop and hobble down to Crianlarich to be collected by his crew. “Gutted” doesn’t begin to cover how he felt.

Dave continued on to Fort William since the hotel was already booked, and visited A&E there. The doctor diagnosed strained or torn ligaments and tendon damage in the flexors at the front of his ankle, advising a week off his feet followed by light rehab, and no running for at least six weeks — though Dave isn’t entirely convinced about that timeline.

It took him a few days to process everything mentally, and he has had to stay off work due to the injury. Despite the DNF, he expressed huge gratitude to all the volunteers and staff for an amazing experience, and especially to his fellow GGH runners who supported him along the way and at the checkpoints.