How NOT to do the Cape Wrath Ultra (250 miles in 8-days across mountainous Scotland, UK)

by Claire MaxtedMay 4, 2020Cape Wrath Ultra 2018, Multi-day0 comments

Cape Wrath Ultra 2018 | Multi-day

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May 4, 2020

The Cape Wrath Ultra is a 250 mile, 8-day race across the remote Scottish Highlands, from Fort William to Cape Wrath – the most north-western tip of Scotland. It takes place in May every other year and entrants come from all over the world, including Japan, America and Europe.

(Scroll down for links to gear I used and other useful Cape Wrath Ultra films like packing and interviews with successful completers)

I signed up to the 2018 race for 3 reasons:

I wanted to see and run through the stunning remote mountainside of north west Scotland within the safety, the support system and camaraderie of a well organised event.
I wanted to set myself a big goal, a challenge to motivate me to train throughout winter.
I skipped a day of my last big race, the 6-day Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica in 2015 because I got really bad blisters in the oppressive heat, and I knew Scotland would be much more like my climate.

However, things didn’t go quite to plan, either in training or in the race. Here’s my story. I hope it helps you prepare if you’re doing the 2020 Cape Wrath Ultra, or inspires you to sign up for the 2022 Cape Wrath Ultra, or just gives you a nice 20 mins or so of interesting running film to watch!

Other films about Cape Wrath Ultra

How to do the Cape Wrath Ultra – with record holder & endurance coach Marcus Scotney (best training, prep and racing advice!)

How to pack for a 250mile 8-day race? (Cape Wrath Ultra!) – A quick look at my packing list for the Cape Wrath Ultra (links to all my gear in that film’s description too)

5 vital things to learn from DNF (how not to race the Cape Wrath Ultra!) – This is a talk and Q&A I did about my experience on this race, and how it actually was a very positive thing to fail at it.

UTMB & Cape Wrath Trail winter record chat with pro ultra runner Beth Pascall

Thanks very much to

Mountain King running poles, Rab and Raidlight for sponsoring this film.

Here is the gear I used on the Cape Wrath Ultra from each sponsor. Some of these links are affiliates so anything you buy in the same Amazon window within 24 hours of clicking these links will give me a very tiny fee at no cost to you. You can do this at any time and with any purchase. Thanks if you do this, every little helps! 🙂

Mountain King running poles

UK amzn.to/3dbzVYM

USA amzn.to/2KYIRVy (can’t see Mountain King in the States, these Ultimate Direction poles are very good tho)

Rab Waterproof Jacket (I wore a very old Atmos jacket that you can’t buy easily now, but Rab’s new Skyline range for trail runners is out now so I’d recommend the Rab Charge jacket from that)

rab.equipment/uk/skyline

USA Men’s amzn.to/2ygqnx2

Raidlight Responsiv 10L

My review of this pack

UK Women’s amzn.to/2yhjQSN

UK Men’s amzn.to/2Sw7op6

USA Women’s amzn.to/2SyDl01

USA Men’s amzn.to/2SyDm45

I wore these Inov-8 shoes but they are not a sponsor of this film. I had never ever got blisters before in any Inov-8 shoe which was why I wore them, but I should have taken a much larger pair as my feet swelled up massively. Wild Ginger Running Patreons get a special discount off Inov-8 gear, become a Patreon now for as little as the price of a cup of coffee. www.patreon.com/WildGingerRunning

Inov8 Trail Talon 290 on Amazon amzn.to/2FFl1st

Inov8 Trail Talon 290 men’s through Inov-8 tidd.ly/71a18d53

Inov8 Trail Talon 290 women’s through Inov-8 tidd.ly/115bd3a7

For more trail & ultra running advice, gear reviews and inspiration, subscribe to Wild Ginger Running on YouTube (it’s totally free) and follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/wildgingerrunning/

Fixing your Feet blister care book
UK amzn.to/3cYLfHE
USA amzn.to/3bLPztD

Brave Soldier Friction Zone
UK amzn.to/2YjrR48
USA amzn.to/2KO5PP2

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