"Coasting Round Britain - Ullapool to Durness"

Anybody fancy joining in for some NW madness? image

Stunning coastal scenery, mountains......and erm lots of sheep and no people?

Anyone?

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Comments

  • great stuff tigers and good luckimage
  • TP- hey I am north of Inverness.

    Inverness 50mins by car. Ullapool aprox. 1.5hrs by car so probably closer for the east section but maybe could do the west if no takers (that is if my feet are working properly!) Sounds fun. Dunno how far I could do.............planning the Brighton mara in April (hopefully) so would hopefully be fit, fingers crossed for a healed plantar image

  • Hi Morvy, that sounds great, hope your foot is better by next year.

    I will need to have a look at a more detailed OS map and see how this could be broken up into decent sections, particularly given the distance between some of the villages up there, and the general lack of shops, or indeed anywhere to stay en route. I'm thinking would probably need to use Ullapool as a base and move back and forth to start / finish points, depending how many miles were covered each day.

  • Yay found you!! Count me in TP!!
  • Hooray, thanks tri chick image.

    I will have a good look at the maps tommorrow, I have the 1:50,000 OS maps for this area which should be plenty detailed enough for our purposes.

  • Good stuff TP!! Not sure what I'm letting myself in for but hey ho!!
    Sounds like fun image
  • Hi Ullas

    sorry link in main page hasnt been put right yet. Anyway, the date we are likely to leave Blackpool is the 2nd May 2010 and pretty soon we will be able to give reasonable prediction of when Barry is likely to reach you. Even if peops are unsure due to time, please remember Barry is flexible. If nobody can take him on a certain day, keep him until you can or re-arrange to suit you. It is not about how fast, just about doing it.

    hope this puts minds at rest a bit.

    take care

    x

    nb -The Blackpool Fun run is on the 9th May so that may be a great time to start. (see main thread)

  • cool GKH, start-mid may then.... roughly. My 2010 is getting busier and busier lol!!
  • Good stuff Hoose, once the baton gets under way it will be easier to see who is where and available to do what.

    I will be in Durness from 14th to roughly 23rd May for the Cape Wrath Challenge week, and in Ullapool on the 13th and 24th (probably). If the baton hits these places during those times I will happily take it on a stretch image. If its in Durness on the 22nd I will take it across to the Cape point and get a photo by the most north westerly point in Britain.

    But I'm also liking the more laid back approach image. I'm sure it will get round the country eventually, if it takes a year, so what? we are not trying to race anybody, the way I see it this is for enjoyment and to show it can be done image.

  • yip Tigers it is about fun and showing it can be done. In some areas Barry will fly though, in others he will take his timeimage Like anyones long run really.
  • Boingy boing image.

    Okay in case you thought I was neglecting my route planning duties, I have the map in front of me and am giving this careful thought!

    From my numerous travels for both work and leisure in this region I can safely say whoever chooses to join in for this area is going to find themselves in arguably some of the wildest and dramatic land Britain has to offer, certainly Britains least populated area.

    Now, depending whether you like to be able to get a pint of milk in a 24hr shop whenever you feel like it, or you prefer to run for 10hrs and only have one car pass you, will be the decider on whether this section is for you! Lets just say, once you leave Ullapool, there are only a handful of shops and public toilets, and a sprinkling of b+b's and hotels / inns before you arrive in the relative metropolis of Durness (population roughly 350). Buses and other public transport are practically non existent.

    The trick to safely completing this section is planning and preparation, be prepared for everything the wilderness has to throw at you, and dont expect to be able to find a shop if you run out of biscuits image. For this reason I would recommend runners setting out on the longer sections carry a light rucksack with full waterproofs for emergencys, a lightweight warm fleece, hat and gloves, and some energy food and water (or have a driver and car back up near enough to you so you do not have to go far if the weather changes). Even in the summer months the weather can change suddenly and dramatically in this area, Think 4 seasons in one day and 'wind-proof' and you wont be far off with your prep.

    Okay thats some rough background. My suggested route will follow soon.

    In the meantime everyone feel free to chip in with thoughts, suggestions, questions etc image.

  • voting for startdate ends 9pm tonight
    http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/members/images/354146/Gallery/4989577647a6163937657m.jpg

  • Evening nutters

    Here is my proposed route for this section.

    *Disclaimer - details correct at time of writing - you run on the roads at your own risk, please take care and look out for mad speeding tourists driving huge camper vans, (image) particularly on the single track roads. Use passing places where necessary to allow overtaking, for your own safety*.

    There are two possible routes, a longer, more directly on the coast route of approx 87 miles, which follows mostly B and unclassified country roads, and a shorter (perhaps bad weather choice?) route following more of the main roads, which would bring us in to Durness at 70.5miles.

    In brief, long route:

    Ullapool - A835 for 10 miles - turn left after Strathcanaird onto unclassified single track road signposted Achiltibuie (summer isles tourist route) - pass below Stac Polliadh mountain - continue on this unclass single track road for 8.5m until see minor road on right (signposted Lochinver) - turn onto this road and continue for further 11m to Lochinver - leave Lochinver on A837 north - after just over 1m turn left onto B869, single track road - up some steep 'undulations' image to Clachtoll - Clachtoll to Stoer to Drumbeg (via more undulations) - finally after 21m reach A894 just south of Kylesku. This is one long ass hilly stage of 50.5 miles image.

    Shorter route to same point:

    Ullapool A835 - 18 miles to Ledmore Junction - turn left on A837 to Inchnadamph (6miles) - from here A837 then turn right at Skaig Bridge onto A894 North (up huge hill) to arrive at Kylesku after 9.5m. Total approx 34miles, but involves more foreign camper van dodging image.

    Final push:

    Kylesku to Durness: Kylesku to Scourie - a straightforward 10miles on the A894 - Scourie to Rhiconich - go north on A894 to Laxford Bridge, here turn onto A838 (12miles) - Rhiconich to Durness - 14.5m on A838 over some of the wildest highest land in the country, totally empty, spectacular mountains before dropping down to Kyle of Durness - Hooray!!! Total stage length this section 36.5miles.

  • Cape Wrath stage:

    Only possible in summer and subject to tides and military activities:

    Durness to Keoldale Pier, approx 1.5m, take boat across to Cape side. From here run up hill up wrecked single track unclass road to lighthouse, across Army firing range image, 11miles in each direction. Peat bog and wilderness, no facilities. Meet boat for return to Keoldale (move yo' ass or you're swimmin' baby).

  • Sounds a bit army training-esque lol!! Love it!! image
  • Great stuff Tri chick - a Marine sense of humour is also probably a requirement for this section - cheerfulness in the face of adversity kind of thing image - in this case it will be rain, blistering heat, more rain, huge hills, peat bogs, mountains, mad drivers, seeing nobody for hours, more rain, where's my suncream?, quick stop for a cuppa, who ate my Mars Bar ya bam, bleedin ell I need a pee and theres nae bogs, quick get in that ditch, ouch I've just trod on a cattle grid, hello sheep, hellooooo Highland cooos, Tigerspaw you are hallucinating and losing your mind.........image.
  • lol your hallucinations did make me chuckle!! Sounds a good type of hallucination though... my type of thing!! Up te yer neck in.... well.. all kinds shall we say lol!! image
  • Lol image

    This is the life.

    That lot down't sarth dont know what they're missing image.

    I would holiday in Scotland any day rather than all this catching plans for 5 hours to sit on some shitty beach in Lanzargrotte LOL image.

    Mind you maybe we should keep the north of Scotland as Britains best kept secret cos the very reason it is so good is because theres hardly anyone here!

  • And <looks around furtively>.....shhhhh....you know what the best kept secret is about Durness?

    <whispers> Cocoa Mountain Handmade Chocolate shop imageimage

    YUM YUM image

    I spent about £30 in there during this years Cape Wrath Challenge week image....lovely 70% and 80% dark choc with real cocoa bean 'nibbles' inside, caffeine boost.....kept me running image. And they have a brilliant cafe with hot choc, muffins etc. imageimage

    The wilderness has its benefits image.

  • Mmmm sounds delicious!!! - esp muffins, I adore them!!! image
    Right off into town for a bit, no running today image outside underfoot conditions not looking good and I've no time to get to the gym I dont think.... oh well I'm sure I can squeeze something in somewhere. have a god day everybody image
  • he he he u lot r crazy...................sounds lotsa fun, I do hope I can join in the fun!!! Sounds blissful image
  • Oh yes... mud and more mud lol!!
  • Only mud I'm planning to run through is gonna be the Mississippi Mud Pie at Cocoa Mountain imageimage.

    Lol Morvy - yes this stage has a kind of joyous madness to it!

    I love it, what a stage, what a place......the most stunning part of Scotland if the weather is on your side.

    Maybe we could include an excursion up Stac Polliadh as part of the first stage?

     image image Eek who said that? Was that me? LOL crazy Tiger having mad ideas image.

    (It is less than 2500ft......and it has a lovely new path up it now image).

  • you guys are great and a bit mad. Some threads for Scottish regions are totally empty and theyt are not as tough as yours. Would you really want some soft southerners to come up?image
  • The more the merrier Hoose image.

    That 'empty thread' section from Fort William to Ullapool looks like it is going to be tough to fill. Too many miles and very low population in that area...peops will have to travel to take part.

    I can give route advice but wouldnt be able to run any of it.

    For that connecting bit we probably need a team of say 3 or 4 people with a car and driver who want a holiday in the Highlands, they could eg hire holiday cottage for a week and get that FW to Ulla section covered in 5 / 6 days, unless we find some crazy ultra runners who can do it in like 2 / 3 days image.

  • Did e mail Aberdeen club and runscotland thingy . As  I am very unfamiliar with some parts(most parts), it would be useful if someone can identify clubs in or near Ullapool and FW and me or they can contact them. 
  • Lochaber Athletic Club are in Fort William...they organise a road marathon every April, but apart from that I get the impression they are mostly hill / x-country runners. Might be an idea to drop them an email, point them towards here.
  • brilliant Tigers -will do that tomorrow. If I can get some to do 1/2 and Ulla club tother 1/2 we should be on right trackimage
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