The Ramsay Round is a Scottish hill running challenge of 24 hills around Glen Nevis. The aim is to do this in under 24 hours. To succeed requires training (see previous post), planning (both of supporters and food) and a bit of luck with the weather. The start of June saw me begin my taper for the Ramsay and the start of final logistical preparations. Having asked quite a lot of people to support me over the last few months it was time to firm up the plan. This is easiest done face to face so I held an ice cream party (with homemade ice cream and sorbet) with lots of maps for serious planning.
My support plan was mainly based around static support. I did not plan to get anyone to carry things for me while running with me for two reasons. The first was a lack of suitable volunteers, I had a large support team but not people who would be able to run with me for long distances on the hill. The second was the linked importance of being able to drop your pacers, going for such a long way it is important to be able to run your own pace which may mean dropping people on descents who may catch up with you on the next climb. Instead to keep my weight down and save time my plan was to have people meet me on the hill with food and water. In the Mamores I had 4 support points in the hills, then three low level support points, Adhainn Rath (end of Mamores), Loch Trieg Dam and Lairig Leacach (below Stob Ban II). In the Grey Corries I had people camping on the hill to provide a dawn support point then two final support points on the hill to keep me going to the end. I had 4 people running with me, James B from the start, Marcus later on in the Mamores. Then Fíona and Iain split the night between so I was not on my own in the dark.
With the support team part of the plan falling into place I started to prepare my food bags. I had split the run into 5 and my plan was to have more or less the same food on offer for each of the 5 legs with a few extras and modifications from additional support points. I planned to have around 400g of carbs in each of the 5 sections. This was made up of boiled potatoes, tailwind, stykr, SiS and graze bars, rice krispy square, homemade fruit and rice energy bars, malt loaf and SiS gels. I also had some other additional foods at low level support points in case I wanted something different. Coming into the attempt I was reasonably confident about my eating plan, feeling a lot better prepared than either for the Tranter Round I did in 2021 (during which I could not really eat any solid food) or the test ultra I had done the previous November.
The final thing I needed to slot into place was the weather. I had a target weekend with the following weekend as a back up if the weather wasn’t there. The Monday of my target week came and I was not very optimistic, the weather forecast was not looking great (a bit too much rain, cloud and wind). I told my support team I would make the call on Wednesday when hopefully the forecast would be more accurate. This was definitely a stressful few days, Tuesday the forecast got much better but then Wednesday it got worse again. The most annoying part was the worst of the weather (quite high winds) was due on Saturday night so it was not possible to adjust starting time to avoid that. I decided to go for it on Wednesday, partly as there was no real prospect of weather being better the following weekend (long range forecast was basically a series of fronts coming in off the Atlantic for several weeks). I was also feeling very ready to do the run in the final week of a three week taper. The forecast was ok but with some cloud, wind and rain at times.
Friday afternoon me and Amy travelled to Glen Nevis and set up camp and we were joined by a few supporters but most people were coming up the next day. After giving Ali and Keith supplies for Mamores; me, Amy and Fiona went on a last minute recce of the first few km (shortcut up from the road to track through forest). There was some forestry work (and piles of logs) on track so I was very glad I had done this.
Saturday morning came and I woke to ok looking weather, the mist was clearing from the hills and the forecast overnight rain hadn’t been too bad. We headed over to the youth hostel start point, James and Hannah had driven up that morning and managed to beat us to the start. The plan was to set off at 9am with James keeping me company as far as Am Bodach. 9am came and off we went. Having company at this point was very helpful in keeping me focussed on the present, not the rather long distance I had ahead of me. The first cut through the forest was easily found, the second I was a bit hasty and turned off too early but my reps in that forest a month earlier meant I could still pick an ok route and soon we were off up the hill climbing Mullach nan Coirean. I had been warned in advance that basing my splits on Finley Wild’s record time (x1.6) meant I was putting myself in for a fast finish so wanted to bank some time on my splits in the Mamores if possible. Heading up the ridge to Mullach Nan Coirean the weather deteriorated and the initial hot, humid weather was cool, cloudy and windy high up. However we reached the first summit a nice 15 minutes up on my target time.
We didn’t hang around and pushed on through the mist. I quickly stopped to put my coat on but when James stopped to put his coat on I didn’t see him again. I passed a wet and misty Stob Ban 25 minutes up on time and was soon through my first support point with no sign of Ali and Keith. A quick text to whatsapp group to warn people I was ahead then pushing on over the Devil's Ridge. Up and down Sgurr a'Mhaim I continued to gain time possibly causing my support teams some stress and a rush to get into position in time. I briefly saw James in the mist encouraging me on, I passed Keith and Hannah on the way to Am Bodach who assured me Ali had run on alone to ensure she beat me to the summit. The weather was a bit grim at this point with wind and rain and I think if I hadn’t been nearly 40 minutes up I may have been tempted to call it a day. After a quick stop to exchange rubbish for food with Ali a slightly cold Dom carried on narrowly avoiding descending the wrong way off the summit.
Thankfully the weather started to improve and I got out of the mist between the summits. The rain stopped and wind was very dependent on the ridge angle. I did the second out and back to An Gearahach (43 mins up on summit) and contoured round to support point 3 (Berenice and Andrew B) and meeting Marcus, my second support runner. Happily when the col came into view the three of them were there waiting for me. After switching empty soft flask for a full one and eating a gel, me and Marcus set off up Na Gruagaichean. He initially decided I must be going really fast and went off way faster than me but we soon settled into a good pace together. Na Gruagaichean was the first summit I had views from.
We carried on to Binnean Mor and more mist where Marcus left me 52 minutes up on my schedule. I had fallen on the descent off Binnean during my solo Tranter and had planned but never got round to doing it again. I promptly skidded down the hill a bit at the exact same place but managed to stop myself with my feet this time and was soon crossing the coire and waving to support team on the climb up Binnean Beag ahead of me. Me, Fiona and Brezo reached the pace where our ways joined at exactly the same time and I pushed on the summit (where the other Dominic was) before switching empty for full soft flask on descent. Going round to Sgurr Eilde Mor I encountered my first issues eating but soon reached the slightly mist-covered summit 1:05 up on schedule.
The descent off this was the only bit I had failed to scout (the route diverges from the Tranter round here) however in day light and no mist it was ok to try and take as straight a line as possible through the heather. I may have just been feeling better than when I did the Tranter but I think it is definitely a better descent for Ramsay than Tranter there. At this point I started to think I was going to actually make it within 24 hours. I passed the track and saw figures ahead of my first low level support on the far side of the river crossing. Amy and Andrew H were well set up on a nice rock for me to change my shoes, socks (and then shorts deciding ¾ lengths were a better plan). I ate and drank some more things then after a slightly longer than the planned 10 minute stop, set off again. The dry socks and shoes felt wondrous on my feet.
The start of the valley section is a bit rough and I was not feeling great so I took it fairly easy. The path slowly improved and soon enough I was running round the end of Loch Trieg and heading up on the track towards Beinn na Lap. Crossing under the railway line I was happy to realise I had not lost time here and pushed on up Beinn na Lap. This climb up Beinn na Lap is long (I have at times said this was the hardest bit) and the nice afternoon weather window was also starting to end. The mist reached the summit just before me but I was happy to be over it (1:16 up) and into the descent trying to hide from the wind a bit where possible. The final drop off Beinn na Lap is steep rough heather but I was soon down and starting to climb Chno Dearg. There is an “ambushed by Chno Dearg” chapter recounting various peoples' rounds falling apart here in Johnny Muir’s book but other than rather grim conditions it went ok for me. I was feeling a bit tired when I stopped to get water (one of only twice I had to get my own water the entire round) but the worsening weather meant I was definitely not in a mood to hang around. At this point I knew Maddy and Simon must now be camping on the Grey Corries so I couldn’t really abandon due to bad weather and make them camp on the ridge for no reason.
I was happy to have gained more time reaching Chno Dearg (1:21 up) and got phone signal again for the first time in a while to let the support team know how I was doing. It was nice seeing lots of supporting messages coming back even if I didn’t read them all closely. The next bit was a bit grim running into rain and a strong wind across the plateau. I nearly ran up an unneeded munro top but corrected and had to keep checking a struggling phone with a wet screen for directions. I got a bit of a fright when it turned off but I managed to revive it and had a charge block to get the battery up again. Coming off Stob Coire Sgroidain I made an annoying, silly second navigation mistake but managed to correct and just went a worse way for a bit. I soon dropped out of the mist and began the rough descent down to the dam. It was my third time down there and probably my third different way but I did recognise various landmarks so was glad to have done the route before. Reaching the railway line I realised being well ahead of time meant I had no idea if a train was due. The wind also made me slightly worried I would miss the sounds of an approaching train so I tried to keep the pace up along the railway to get safely off it as soon as possible. Crossing the dam Fíona, Ali and Keith were waiting in a sheltered spot.
Here I was at less need of new supplies due to eating less but took some stuff on and tried to eat what I could. We did see a train pass while I was sitting here. After another change of sock and shoes me and Fíona set off, again stopping nearer to 15 mins than the plan 10 mins but still a healthy 1:21 ahead of plan. Despite having lots of time in hand I was still worried about losing time (once you start losing a minute here a minute there you can run out of time quite suddenly). The ascent of Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin starts quite steeply and having put on older shoes I slipped over in the mud a few times. Once the climb flattened out I tried to take it easy for a bit and eat some more food (my homemade fruit and rice bars really kept me going on this last leg). The wind was lining up with the ridge here so it was quite sheltered and the forecast Saturday evening gales were not a problem. Darkness reached us and coming off Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin we were confronted by self dazzling in the mist so held my head torch in my hand. I had gained more time on that climb and reached my maximum time up of 1:26. Stop Coire Easain summit is close and was very windy so we quickly started the descent. Navigation was initially a bit hard in the dark so it was a while before I left Fíona behind on the descent (always planned). I could see an occasional light ahead. Initially I thought it was a person doing Ramsay round ahead of me (Amy and Andrew H had seen someone who had set off 2 hours before me) but soon realised it was Iain signalling his location to me in the dark. I lost sight of Iain crossing the valley bottom but managed to pop up exactly where he was on the path.
After a quick diversion to get water we set off up Stob Ban, Iain possibly a bit sad I had not taken all the food he had brought in for me. Again a fairly sheltered climb led to a very windy summit so we quickly dropped down. I managed to lose the path a slip over on the scree descending here (again problems of mist + dark for head torch use). However we were soon heading up Stob Choire Claurigh another long climb. Reaching the top I was now 1:13 up on plan losing only 13 minutes on a very rough down and up in the dark was not too bad. The mist was only on one side of the ridge and we had some very spectacular views in early dawn light here. After Stob Coire an Laoigh the descent into the coire went better than I expected. Small scree gave a very fast descent but required a brief stop to empty small stones out of shoes. We found Simon and Maddy’s tent without difficulty and woke them, getting some supplies and water from them. I had asked them to carry quite a lot of supplies up but took very little and Iain dumped some things I’d given him and not eaten with them so they may have had to carry just as much out as took in. On Sgurr Choinnich Mor I was 1:05 up and said goodbye to Iain who planned to follow me on to Ben Nevis at his own pace. I expected to see him catch me on the climbs. Having lost a bit of time I was trying to keep pace up as much as possible here but took some sub optimum lines and was feeling quite tired going up Spink’s ridge to Aonoach Beag.
Spink’s ridge had been something I had been a bit worried about but descending it while supporting Tom’s Ramsay attempt gave me more confidence. My dislike of exposed ground struck again at the top but I clambered up over a steep grassy slope and soon reached the path on the main route again. Heading up Aonoach Beag my watch briefly died but I still had a charge block so managed to start it again quite quickly. Iain did not catch me here and I never saw him again until after the finish. Going over to Aonoch Mor I was starting to worry about missing my target time (we had lost a lot of time on the final section in the first Tranter round and falling on Stob Ban made me worry I would struggle to run down Ben Nevis). I still had over an hour in hand on Aonoch Mor but there is quite a few drop and climbs remaining here.
Amy was waiting for me at col before Carn Mor Dearg with another gel and water boost. I continued to lose time and was only 52 minutes up on the summit of Carn Mor Dearg (plenty of time but I was tired). I tried to push hard crossing the CMD arete (on the bypass path). Cloud obscured my progress but eventually I started the climb up to Ben Nevis. I tried to eat a few final potatoes here and threw quite a few away to lighten my bag for the final climb (hopefully nice snacks for birds not bizarre missiles for any climbers below me). Making the final climb I checked the whatsapp to see that Dominic but not Fiona was waiting for me on the summit. I reached a completely empty summit plateau (first time I have seen the summit of Ben Neivis empty and first time up it in mist). When I was taking a selfie on summit cairn Dominic appeared from summit shelter. He took my sticks off me and insisted I eat the caffeine gel he had carried up for me. I had just under 2 hours to make the descent so should be fine and started to believe I could do it again. I had told Dominic I was going to run the zig zags down but the initial rocky path put me off that idea and I was soon running down the race route finding it so much better than my previous two attempts at it. I soon reached the main path as it crossed red burn and took the second short cut there (missing Fiona who had gone up to meet me at halfway lochan). Lower down it got busier and warmer again but the path is very awkward to run down.
At 7.45 I started to wonder if I could make it down by 8 (and so hit 23 hours). In aid of this I didn’t stop to take my coat off, my pace was quite uneven as I tried to keep pace up but also avoid a silly last minute fall. Finally I reached the turn off for the youth hostel, and realised that I was probably not going to make a sub 23 hour round (only an aim for the last 12 minutes). At the hostel there was a small crowd waiting, cheering me on and welcoming me to the finish. I had done it. I finished the Ramsay Round in 23:01, 48 minutes up on my nominal schedule time.
Sitting on the helpfully brought chair at the end I was tired but happy to have finished it successfully. Finishing comfortably within 24 hours was something I was very happy with considering I had not been confident of getting a sub 24 hour round when starting.
When planning it I was definitely hoping for better weather. At one point during training I decided winds over 20mph were a no go (gusts of over 40mph were forecast when I did it). Drier and clearer weather would also have been nice. However I’m not sure I would have gone faster in better weather even if the actual experience of doing it may have been nicer. The poor weather made stopping at many summits not an option and was a constant push to keep going. The wind speeds were not as bad as forecast and wind direction aligned with the two main ridges so I was sheltered for quite a lot of it. I had also done various training runs in terrible weather so poor weather wasn’t new to me.
Eating did not go as well as I hoped. I ate well for the first 5 hours or so but then started to struggle. I think this was partly because it was much longer than most of my training runs so keeping eating for longer is still something I’ve not really ever done. The other factor was possibly having more tailwind than I had done in training and it not being as hot as it had been towards the end of my training. I ended up mostly drinking tailwind, not having water as well which I had done more of in training as I wasn’t needing to replace so much fluid lost to sweat.
My support team numbered 16 people in the end. Only the first support point was missed so everyone managed to get into position before me despite me being nearly 90 minutes ahead of schedule at times. Thanks to everyone who supported me (and who had volunteered to help in following weekend but were not needed in the end) I couldn’t have done it without the help, the carrying food for me up the hill, the company when running, the encouragement along the way and the needing to actually do it after asking so many people to help!
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