Cape Wrath Ultra® Recce Weekends

Are you tackling the Cape Wrath Ultra? With 400km over 8 days, this race is Scotland’s toughest - as well as being one of its most beautiful.
Our recce weekends give you the opportunity to get out on the course and experience the wild, rough terrain first-hand, giving you a glimpse into what you can expect out there on the course.
We offer recce weekends covering two sections of the course: days 4 and 5 in Torridon, and days 6 and 7 in the Ullapool area.

Torridon recce weekend

Days 4 and 5 of the Cape Wrath Ultra take you through Torridon, where you’ll experience some of the most jaw-dropping scenery you’ll encounter on the race. We’ll run the full day 4 and 5 routes, giving you an insight into what you’ll be facing from start to finish during the mid-point of the race.
On Saturday, we’ll cover 35km from Achnashellach to Kinlochewe, covering rough, rocky ground as we’re surrounded by high mountain passes. We expect to be out for 8-9 hours on this day. On Sunday, we’ll run 44km from Kinlochewe to Inverlael, traversing the incredible Fisherfield mountains for another run of roughly 8-9 hours.

Ullapool recce weekend

Days 6 and 7 of the course are long, hilly and very boggy in places! We’ll cover the best of the two days over our recce weekend, giving you the opportunity to find your feet on the course (quite literally), experience how remote this area is, and get a feel for the ups and downs of the route.

On Saturday, we aim to cover around 30km, running the start of day 7 as far as CP1, then out to Kylesku. You should expect to be out on the hills for around 7-8 hours. On Sunday, we’ll jump back to run the start of the day 6 route, which is around 32km, and we plan to be out on the course for roughly 7-8 hours.

What to expect

These are long days out, designed to give you a chance to get onto the terrain and discover what the course has in store. We’ll move as a team, covering whole race days, or significant selected portions of the longest days. A consistent run/walk pace will be required to move at a pace that would comfortably get within the cut-off times for the race.

These weekends are inclusive of all transport and accommodation, so you don't need to worry about the complex logistics of travelling point-to-point throughout the remote Northern Highlands. We’ll have a support driver on hand to transport you to and from the course each day as well as providing a road support point every day.

Explorer course

On these weekends, we will need to move around the pace required to meet the cut-offs for the full course. If you are expecting to move slower than this and are therefore planning to join the 'Explorer" option at the event, please get in touch to discuss your fitness before booking onto a recce.

Dates

Date	Base	Course days	Price	Places	Book now	Your guides
13&14 April	Torridon	Full 4&5	£500	3 Places available	Book now	Ian & Lewis
19&20 April	Ullapool	Highlights of 6&7	£500	2 Places available	Book now	Ian & Laura

Waiting lists - If the course you are interested in is full, please let us know and we will add you to a waiting list. If we get a lot of interest we will do what we can do expand capacity.

Experience and Fitness

This course is specifically designed for competitors preparing for the Cape Wrath Ultra. If you have realistic expectations of completing the event within the cut-off times, then you should manage the physical demands of this course without issues.

We also welcome runners who want to use the weekend to get a feel of this amazing event before committing it to a future wish-list, in which case the same requirements of fitness and experience apply.

I appreciate that there will be a variety of fitness levels and racing aspirations within our recce team. This weekend is wholly intended as a chance to spend a weekend sharing ideas and getting to grips with the details of the route. It is not intended as a race simulation or time-trial. We will therefore be moving at a pace that suits the whole team wherever possible. I will adapt to the groups needs, but I would expect to complete each day within 8-9 hours maximum. Towards the end of each day there will be an opportunity for faster runners to stretch their legs slightly if they want. I also reserve the right to use the van support as a ‘cut-off’ if anyone is unreasonably slow and affecting the outcome for the other group members.

If you have any questions or concerns please get in touch to discuss your experience.

Kit you will need

Please follow the mandatory kit list for the event and come equipped appropriately. Especially for the recce weekends in April and October, please check the weather and ensure you have enough warm and waterproof kit with you. As we are not going to be moving at full race pace, please bring more kit than your absolute racing minimum. Extra kit can be left in the support vehicle.

If you have any questions or concerns please get in touch.

Accommodation & Getting here

We will be staying in the Hostelling Scotland hostels in Torridon and Ullapool

We will collect you from Inverness at 5.30pm on Friday.

Whats included?

What’s included?

Transport: All in course transport, from a pick-up in Inverness on Friday evening to a drop off in Inverness on Sunday night. We will have a support driver on hand to transfer to start and end of each days trails as well as meeting us at a road support point each day.

Accommodation: Two nights accommodation in Hostelling Scotland hostels, in a single sex room shared with a maximum of 5 people from our team.

Guiding: The group will be lead by a highly qualified guide with experience of the race throughout.