West Highland Way Training Run

My summer had been dominated with clearing my father's house, and with that task largely done, I was keen to do a multi-day route in September. This also coincided with the training schedule and begining to build distance. Given the Run Brit route goes the full length of the West Highland Way I chose this as my objective.

For those not familiar with the WHW, the route starts in Milngavie on the north side of Glasgow and goes up to Fort William, a distance of 95 miles. The Run Brit itinerary involves a night at Rowardennan and also Bridge of Orchy, and I decided to mirror those splits. I used one of the many baggage transfer companies to move my overnight bag, but otherwise was unsupported. This was not a big deal, but did add a few bonus miles to my itinerary, for example diverting into Drymen for coffee and water.

My first learning of the trip was that I was so focussed on running that I forgot to take photos for the first couple of days so the pictures are mainly from the final day. A brief summary of the days:

Day 1 - Milngavie to Rowardennan

A fairly straightforward day, leaving the northern suburbs of Glasgow and transitioning to the Highland landscape. The first half is fairly flat up to Drymen, before a bit of a climb over Connich Hill (now with newly laid path which will withstand heavy tourist traffic, although caution needed when running as it would be super-easy to turn an ankle on it). From Balmaha to Rowardenan is very pleasant although the twists and turns, ups & downs make it hard to establish a rhythm.

Day 2 - Rowardennan to Bridge of Orchy

The first bit from Rowadennan is a wide track and very runnable, before descending onto narrow loch-side path which is notoriously slow. From Inveranan onwards the path climbs towards Crainlarich. I got caught out with one of the campsites being closed and I had banked on it having a cafe for supplies, so I was running on empty by the time I got to Tyndrum. After much eating and drinking in at the Green Welly cafe, I made it over the hill and down to Bridge of Orchy.

Day 3 - Bridge of Orchy to Fort William

Quite a big day so I set off early, forgoing the full cooked in preference of an early bowl of porridge. I managed to make it over Ranch Moor by shortly after 10am before climbing over the Devil's Staircase and down into Kinlochleven. It was a day of very changeable weather, quite breezy, plenty of rainbows which were inevitably followed by a shower 10 minutes later. Even had some snow on the tops. At Kinlochleven I grabbed two meal deals in the Co-op and then had the stiff climb up onto the drove road towards Fort William. At this point the weather was foul and it was a real test of stamina to keep going in miserable conditions. Anyhow made it to Fort William and the sun came out, providing me with a brief glimpse of "The Ben".

Some photos: