Ultra Tour of Arran
Julian Davis and Sheena Jackson took part in the inaugural Ultra Tour of Arran on 14 and 15 April. The Ultra is a two day event, with day one being 28 miles and 4,000 ft of ascent and day 2 being 30 miles and 6,000 ft of ascent, taking in Goat Fell and The Saddle.
Sheena tore her calf muscle 6 miles into the first day but both she and Julian completed the race in approximately 6 1/2 hours. Day one was tough, with a long section of deep bog through the woods and some tricky technical descents and slow rocky beach sections.
Julian returned for day 2 whereas Sheena was a DNS. Day 2 was pretty brutal with some very technical ascents and descents on pathless hillside. Deep ravines and treacherous wet boulders made the going slow and difficult and Julian made it up to the saddle in very poor visibility with freezing temperatures and snow making the going even more difficult. He then took the decision not to summit goat fell as visibility was almost down to zero in thick cloud. He made his way down the valley instead, a route a number of runners opted to take. He crossed the finish line in approximately 9 hours, having run 31.5 miles with 5,000 ft of ascent completed. Full results to be confirmed.