The 2007 Adventure Race World Championship
The Road to the Isles
Rob Howard / 26.05.2007
It was a very early start for teams already mentally tired by two days of intense preparation. The ferry from the port of Mallaig to the isle of Rum was leaving at 0700 and to get there the bus left Fort William at 05.30. Some teams had hardly been to bed, having spent much of the night marking maps and completing their complex, but all important, packing.Heavy rain showers made teams climb abroad the small fleet of coaches quickly and those who didn’t fall straight asleep, could at least relax and look at the view as they drove the 50 mile ‘Road to the Isles’. This sweeps along broad, forested valleys, past numerous lochs, twisting and turning, with constantly changing views of the surrounding mountains and then turns north along the coast for a short distance, giving glimpses of the mountain ranges on the Small Isles and Skye, before arriving in Mallaig.
Soon after leaving Fort William the road passed the Glenfinnan monument, the end of last years Wilderness ARC race, and overlooked by the railway viaduct famously used in the first Harry Potter film. The steam train that runs on this line to Mallaig is a great tourist attraction in the area and the original plan had been to use this to take teams to the port, but sadly it proved impractical. As it was the race had to charter a whole Caledonian McBrayne ferry from Mallaig (for 170 of the racers), and another from nearby Arisaig, both full to capacity.
It was a fine morning in Mallaig, though black skies on the horizon showed there were many heavy showers around. Very little could be seen of the Cullin hills of Skye but there was a fine view of the cliffs of the Isle of Eigg, framing its distinctive plateau. Teams will paddle round this island tomorrow, but everyone was more interested in the more distant but impressive views of today’s destination – the Cullin hills of Rum. These steep hills filled the horizon, with a layer of cloud covering the tops.
Left Behind
The small ferry port quickly began to fill with vehicles and teams, but then there was a hitch – the lady running the ticket office slept in! Tickets for the race needed to be collected, and the boat was late to leave … and worse, as a result of mix up on the number of places available on board one team, a few marshals and a cameraman were left behind! **See All Event Posts
