Milngavie, United Kingdom · Trail
Official site ↗West Highland Way Race
Scotland's oldest ultra, first run in 1985: 95 miles of the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Fort William through the night, with a 35-hour limit.
Distances
- Distance
- 95 mi (153 km)
- Vert gain
- 14,760 ft (4,500 m)
- Cutoff
- 35 hr
Midnight start, an hour earlier than 2026 · WSER 2028 qualifier (sub-35:00)
| Distance | Vert gain | Cutoff | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95 mi (153 km) | 14,760 ft (4,500 m) | 35 hr | Midnight start, an hour earlier than 2026 · WSER 2028 qualifier (sub-35:00) |
Course records: Lucy Colquhoun 17:16:20 (2007) · Rob Sinclair 13:41:08 (2017)
About
The West Highland Way Race follows the long-distance trail from Milngavie, just north of Glasgow, to Fort William in the Highlands. Duncan Watson and Bobby Shields set off from Milngavie railway station on June 22, 1985, and the race has run every June since, apart from 2020 and 2021.
The field starts in the dark on a Saturday in midsummer, passes Loch Lomond, Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy, Glencoe and Kinlochleven, and finishes at the Nevis Centre in Fort William. The race is capped at 300 runners and every finisher is presented with a goblet.
Course
South to north on the West Highland Way: Balmaha (19 miles), Rowardennan (27), Beinglas Farm (42), Tyndrum (53), Bridge of Orchy (60), Glencoe Ski Centre (71), Kinlochleven (81) and Lundavra (88) to the finish at 95, with about 14,760 feet of ascent. Every checkpoint but Inversnaid has a race-clock cutoff, from 5 hours at Balmaha to 35 at the finish, and they are strictly enforced. The race's own history page gives the route as 96 miles; its rules and its timing both use 95.
How to register
Entry is a ballot among qualified runners, capped at 300. For 2027 the ballot ran October 1 to 14, 2026, on SI Entries, and applicants need at least 90 miles (145 km) of off-road ultras in no more than two races since January 1, 2024. Founders, record holders, five-time finishers and the previous year's top six men and women get places outside the ballot. Runners must be 20 on race day, and a support crew is no longer mandatory from 2027.