The Three Peaks Yacht Race
Perry Brothers win King of the Mountains for Moby J
Rob Howard / 19.06.2013
After a record breaking run/ride on Scafell Pike brothers Adam and Chris Perry still had it all to do on Ben Nevis. They were out to complete the race for their team of course, but a really fast time could bring them the record for the best time on all 3 peaks. They had some advantages, arriving in daylight and in good weather conditions for running. They gave it all they had, setting one of the fastest times for many, many years: a blistering 2 hours 50 minutes for the 18 mile run to the highest point in the UK and back to sea level.
It was impressive, but it wasn’t enough for the records – not quite. They set the best time on Ben Nevis for this race comfortably, and won the King of the Mountains title, but finished just 11 minutes outside the Ben Nevis record set in 1984, and 7 minutes outside the best mountain aggregate time, set in 2009. Even getting close to those records was impressive.
The fierce weather on the first sail made most runners sick and left them shaken up for a night time run over Snowdon, so times were relatively slow, making the best aggregate time a huge challenge. And the Ben Nevis record has stood for nearly 30 years, and many think it will never be beaten because the path has deteriorated and today’s runners are constrained to stay on the main path and include an extra checkpoint at the half-way lochan.
The two fell runners were met on the line by their team, who are experienced 3 peakers. Skipper Martin Pound said he met the two runners at the Scottish Island’s Peaks race and added, “They said they were looking for a boat for this race so I invited them onto my 30 footer and they didn’t know any better.
“I think they were expecting showers and a bit more luxury, but they were great. They joined in with the sailing and did their rowing, and when they got sick on the first stage they just put it behind them and got on with it; just what you want in this race. We made a good team and it’s great to see them win so many of the cups.”
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