‘The jewel in the crown of UK adventure racing’

by Toben Lewis on 3 Jun 2014 Another successful Scottish Islands Peaks Race, held on and around the beautiful west coast of Scotland, has finished for 2014. Held annually in May, with a 30 year history, the race is a challenging combination of sailing and hill running.

The race begins in Oban, where competitors start with a taster run up Pulpit Hill before rowing out to their awaiting sailboats. The teams then head over to Salen on Mull, where the runners disembark for a run to the summit of Ben More. The boats then return though the Sound of Mull and sail to Craighouse on Jura for a run across the three Paps. This is followed by a technically challenging sail around the Mull of Kintyre to Lamlash on Arran, for a run up Goatfell. Finally, the teams make the sail from Lamlash to Troon on the mainland of Scotland to the finish. Teams are usually five people (two runners and three sailors), though youth teams have more per team, and all-rounders consist of five members that participate in both the sailing and running during the race.

The weather this year was particularly challenging for both sailors and runners, and all who completed the course are to be heartily congratulated. This years race was won by the team on Clockwork (skipper Peter Foulds, runners David Wars and Richard Mellon, and crew members Colin Rawlings and Richard Ludlow), with an impressive time of 43:25:05.

Many competitors have been weighing in on social media with their thoughts on the race, including one skipper calling it ‘the jewel in the crown of UK adventure racing’ and another asking if it was the ‘toughest race in Scotland?’ There’s only one way to find out; next year’s race starts 15 May at noon, you tell us! Entries will open 1 November 2014.

Full results of this years race can be found on our website.