Highland Ultra 2022 | Stage Three

Nobody involved with this year’s Highland Ultra has ever seen anything like it before. In all likelihood they never will again.

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Blog and Highland Ultra 2022

That’s a wrap. The runners passed last night on the beach eating delicious food provided by the Knoydart Tea Room and being entertained by an excellent ceilidh band. Conditions remained glorious for the 3rd and final day and the runners all reached the line in jubilant moods.

Congratulations to Tomas Rybar the winner of Highland Ultra 2022. Tomas led from almost the first step and has dominated throughout without ever seeming to reach the point of discomfort. Affable and excited throughout, Tomas has managed the trick of making this exceptionally tough course look easy.

In 2nd place is Andy Quicke who held onto his position despite Tommy While pushing on to take 2nd place on today’s stage. Tommy takes 3rd overall despite his massive effort today.The first woman in was Liss Johansen who has finished 1st on every stage running alongside Frode Lein. From the early stages, Liss looked set to take this win and sealed it with an excellent performance in the blazing sun today.

2nd overall was Iva Baranova who also clung on to her place after a fight-back from her nearest rival. Sall Minchella takes 3rd overall after beating Iva on the final stage.

Sonny Peart, our guest bloggist for this year’s Highland Ultra has written a summation of the event which we think sums up the experience better than we ever could, so we’ll leave you with his words. Scroll to the bottom for the final overall results.

Nobody involved with this year’s Highland Ultra has ever seen anything like it before. In all likelihood they never will again. Three days of dry hot weather on Knoydart in mid-April. Seventy-five runners set off from Inverie on Thursday morning, and spent three days in the rough bounds, covering approximately 125km, with never a drop of rain. There was the occasional gust of wind, and every now and then a cloud could be seen over some distant peak, but otherwise the sky reflected off every body of water an azure blue more associated with the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. At Kinlochhourn, the overnight camp on the first and second nights, once the sun peaked over the eastern end of the valley, lighting up hillsides all down Loch Hourn, chilly night turned to warm day, remaining so until sunset. For the runners, sunscreen was more important than waterproofs. Those of us who ran the course in October hardly recognised it. In my mind, this was the Dryland Ultra.

Of course, every ultramarathon is different, each time it is run, though perhaps the variation is not always as wide as on this occasion. But while weather conditions and underfoot conditions change, somethings are unaltered. Footcare and nutrition are always a paramount consideration for runners. Fatigue is every-present once the race gets underway. And the topology of the landscape changes too slowly in this part of the world to be noticeable within the lifespan of a generation. The hills we ran in October were run again in April. The peaks, cols and saddles remain to be conquered by tired legs. The long climbs and sharp descents must be achieved step by step by every runner who wants to call themselves a Highland Ultra finisher.

Unchanged too is the logistical challenge of staging a race of this length and difficulty in such a remote location, while ultimately keeping runners safe. Taking part in this race from ‘the other side’ so to speak, I got to see a lot more of what the staff and volunteer team do to ensure a seamless, safe experience for every runner. It was a pleasure to play my small part in it. And I’ll be happy to bring my cowbell back to Knoydart in the future.

What also remains constant is the camaraderie of trail and ultrarunners. Yes, there was some sharp racing at the front of the field, with minutes counting as the difference between podium finishes. But there was a collective will for everyone to succeed, whatever their goal for the event. Every runner was cheered and applauded over the finish line each day. Each evening, runners shared their stories of the trail and swapped advice as they patched up their bodies and planned their next day’s run. On the final day, back at the beach at Inverie, they congratulated each other over drinks and freshly cooked pizza. Not one of them will forget their first experience of Knoydart, even if, like me, they return in the future, as a runner or a volunteer.

Douglas Fraser, in his Highland Landscape, writes that:

                Here, there is beauty every sense can share
                Against the moving backdrop of the sky,
                The murmur of the stream, the scented air,
                The various enchantments for the eye.

So it has been in Knoydart this week, and so it shall be again. Though perhaps not as dry next time. Or the time after that. You have been warned.

OVERALL RESULTS

Race NumberFirstNameSurnameFinish TimePosition
53TomasRybar15:23:001
47AndyQuicke16:00:002
76TommyWhile16:11:003
41LissJohansen16:50:004
59FrodeLein16:50:004
56RoryPenn18:05:006
38RicardoPallisco18:13:007
1RuariArmstrong18:28:008
50AndersLodal18:41:009
58ThomasLeader18:57:0010
60DavidLeithead18:57:0010
52JohnRoss19:05:0012
11SeanEdwardBrown19:22:0013
4AdamBadrawy19:36:0014
26PetrLatka19:56:0015
90RoryPope19:57:0016
8IvaBaronova20:07:0017
51GeorgeLong20:12:0018
69OliverScutt20:14:0019
25MatthewJones20:18:0020
77SvenMilo20:46:0021
91SallyMinchella20:47:0022
34SarahOppermann21:13:0023
21RafeJames21:18:0024
48StefanLandolt21:23:0025
68JeromeSchaer21:23:0023
61ChrisLetchford22:35:0027
62LauraLetchford22:35:0027
57CharlesPerry23:05:0029
14KevinDownie23:07:0030
44OllyHughes23:34:0031
71JonathanMay23:37:0032
12JenniferBurton23:39:0033
17GeorgieHatton23:39:0033
74NicholasStileman23:43:0035
81TimothyZuurbier24:11:0036
103JamieTaylor24:12:0037
83JustinZuurman24:14:0038
63TomPickard24:14:0038
9RichardBrown24:55:0040
30HelenMurray24:55:0040
80MatthewZadrozny25:00:0042
28KeithMontgomery25:02:0043
64VirginiePollet25:19:0044
32KennethDonaldson25:20:0045
16AlisonGay25:50:0046
33AndrewEiduks25:53:0047
3ColinBergstrand26:05:0048
84RemonVan Goolen26:36:0049
42ClairePoole26:53:0050
66LucieRybarova27:16:0051
79KatrinaWright27:34:0052
39KatePhillips28:06:0053
2JohannaBauswein29:44:0054
7CarolinBotterill29:44:0054
43RachelJones29:53:0056
55CharlesMorris29:53:0056
99HollySaunders30:03:0058
5ChristiannaBambini30:55:0059
10PhilippaCrocker33:11:0060
88KeriMorgan36:40:0061
18SteveHillSHORT
27EmmaLynchSHORT
86PhilMarchSHORT
70TonyMatherSHORT
20VictoriaNicholsonSHORT
45SoniaPoulterSHORT
49SteveRiceSHORT
67CathySearleSHORT
87MagdelenaSlapinskiSHORT
73AndrewStantonSHORT
24JohannBoostDNF
31CathyDeanDNF
46RobertHutchinsonDNF
65GrahamRobinsonDNF
101SallyannSmithDNF

STAGE THREE RESULTS

Race NumberFirstNameSurnameArrivalFinish TimePosition
53TomasRybar13:23:0003:23:001
76TommyWhile13:28:0003:28:002
47AndyQuicke13:33:0003:33:003
41LissJohansen13:39:0003:39:004
59FrodeLein13:39:0003:39:004
38RicardoPallisco13:56:0003:56:006
52JohnRoss13:56:0003:56:006
56RoryPenn13:56:0003:56:006
58ThomasLeader14:02:0004:02:009
60DavidLeithead14:02:0004:02:009
1RuariArmstrong14:05:0004:05:0011
4AdamBadrawy14:10:0004:10:0012
11SeanEdwardBrown14:12:0004:12:0013
25MatthewJones14:15:0004:15:0014
26PetrLatka14:18:0004:18:0015
50AndersLodal14:23:0004:23:0016
51GeorgeLong14:29:0004:29:0017
77SvenMilo14:29:0004:29:0017
91SallyMinchella14:31:0004:31:0019
8IvaBaronova14:32:0004:32:0020
90RoryPope14:33:0004:33:0021
21RafeJames14:36:0004:36:0022
48StefanLandolt14:38:0004:38:0023
68JeromeSchaer14:38:0004:38:0023
34SarahOppermann14:40:0004:40:0025
69OliverScutt14:42:0004:42:0026
57CharlesPerry15:02:0005:02:0027
61ChrisLetchford15:09:0005:09:0028
62LauraLetchford15:09:0005:09:0028
71JonathanMay15:16:0005:16:0030
44OllyHughes15:23:0005:23:0031
45SoniaPoulter15:23:0005:23:0031
67CathySearle15:23:0005:23:0031
70TonyMather15:24:0005:24:0034
49SteveRice15:30:0005:30:0035
12JenniferBurton15:32:0005:32:0036
17GeorgieHatton15:32:0005:32:0036
14KevinDownie15:36:0005:36:0038
63TomPickard15:36:0005:36:0038
9RichardBrown15:37:0005:37:0040
30HelenMurray15:37:0005:37:0040
66LucieRybarova15:38:0005:38:0042
74NicholasStileman15:45:0005:45:0043
81TimothyZuurbier15:45:0005:45:0043
103JamieTaylor15:45:0005:45:0043
64VirginiePollet15:46:0005:46:0046
42ClairePoole15:47:0005:47:0047
83JustinZuurman15:47:0005:47:0047
80MatthewZadrozny15:50:0005:50:0049
84RemonVan Goolen16:06:0006:06:0050
16AlisonGay16:14:0006:14:0051
33AndrewEiduks16:14:0006:14:0051
28KeithMontgomery16:23:0006:23:0053
27EmmaLynch16:28:0006:28:0054
32KennethDonaldson16:28:0006:28:0054
46RobertHutchinson16:28:0006:28:0054
3ColinBergstrand16:32:0006:32:0057
79KatrinaWright16:47:0006:47:0058
2JohannaBauswein16:55:0006:55:0059
7CarolinBotterill16:55:0006:55:0059
20VictoriaNicholson16:59:0006:59:0061
99HollySaunders16:59:0006:59:0061
43RachelJones17:04:0007:04:0063
55CharlesMorris17:04:0007:04:0063
73AndrewStanton17:20:0007:20:0065
86PhilMarch17:21:0007:21:0066
87MagdelenaSlapinski17:21:0007:21:0066
39KatePhillips17:39:0007:39:0068
18SteveHill17:48:0007:48:0069
5ChristiannaBambini18:20:0008:20:0070
10PhilippaCrocker18:20:0008:20:0070
65GrahamRobinson18:20:0008:20:0070
101SallyannSmith18:20:0008:20:0070
88KeriMorgan18:29:0008:29:0074
24JohannBoostDNS
31CathyDeanDNF

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Will Roberts

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