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Races within the Race

Rob / 26.06.2004

The weather forecast was right, so teams are making the last minute rush to prepare in strong winds and driving rain, and there are always a few late crises like dragged moorings, courier packages containing last minute equipment that have not arrived, or late arriving runners. Given the choppy conditions in the harbour no-one is too keen to spend time aboard if they don’t have to, so the yacht club is packed out, and the last scrutineering is being done for the runners, to make sure they have the right equipment for the mountains.

As they prepare teams are thinking about many different contests that take place within the race – there are twice as many trophies as boats, so everyone stands a chance!

One of the most prestigious is the Tilman Trophy for all round performance, for which teams must put 4 people onto a summit. (Entries are marked with a T on the leaderboard.) This year there is a very big entry of 13 teams, but some of these might be tactical, like ‘Spirit of Barmouth’. They have 2 very good runners aboard, who will compete for the ‘King of the Mountains’ trophy, and the 3 sailors are definitely, well ... not athletes. However, they are keeping their options open in case they arrive at Fort William with no chance of winning the race outright or the ‘King of the Mountains’ and but are in a position where two of the crew can walk up Ben Nevis to claim the Tilman Trophy.

One very strong entry in the Tilman Trophy is 5girlsinaboat, the only all-female crew in the race, who are raising money for breast cancer research. There will be some rivalry with the male teams not wanting to be beaten by the girls - but the chances are many of them will be! Wendy Dodds has been on the BBC’s ‘Tough Enough for the SAS’ programme, and in the British Fell running team and Nicky Lavery holds many long distance mountain records. Both are from the Lake District and will be very familiar with all the running routes.

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