The West Highland Way ~ Scotland’s most popular and successful long distance trail ~ was officially opened on 6 October 1980, but it took a few years for any kind of Race to germinate.

Step forward Duncan Watson (a not-so-well known athlete), who somewhat cheekily challenged Bobby Shields (a man with many trophies to his name, including the famed Ben Nevis race) to a head-to-head ‘race’ along the Way.

On 22 June 1985 the two of them gathered (a small and select gathering) at Milngavie railway station, and set off for Fort William. At that time the route differed in several ways from what we have today. In particular, the section from Balmaha to Rowardennan was pretty much all along the road; and the final section from Lundavra to Fort William was all on road. The actual mileage was therefore a bit less than today, and with considerably less up ‘n down along the journey. So in some ways it was “easier” than today’s route.

But on the other hand the route marking was not nearly as clear; and many stretches involved wading through deep mud and bog ~ especially from Beinglas farm up to the forest above Crianlarich. The lower half of Glen Falloch was certainly not the ‘manicured path’ that we now enjoy! So, in reality, the route was ‘different’ in several respects, rather than necessarily being much ‘easier’ or ‘harder’. Neither man gave an inch in this titanic struggle. As they started to cross Rannoch Moor after c 60 miles they realised that, with this mindset, mutual destruction was the most likely outcome. So they pooled resources, and continued on to finish together in the fine time of 17 hours 48 minutes.

The Race was born!

In 1986 the two of them opened up the Race to some fellow runners - this time going from North to South, with Duncan as Race Director. He continued in this role up to and including 1989.

1987 saw a return to the South to North route; with 7 of the 11 runners completing the full distance.

The 1989 Race has gone into the history books as something of a “clash of the Titans” battle at the sharp end, with Dave Wallace completing the distance in an all-time fastest of 15:26, just 6 minutes ahead of Mike Hartley. A report on this Race ~ the stuff of legend! ~ (along with many other Race write-ups over the years) can be found elsewhere on this website.

1989 also saw the first requirement for an official Scottish Athletics race permit; and the Race starting to evolve away from it’s early days back-of-an-envelope “come along and run” informality.

Peter White took on the organisation in 1990, to be succeeded by Jim Stewart in 1991 when the trail was re-routed to (much more closely) follow the present line:- c 95 miles distance (including c 14,760 feet of ascent, and c 14,760 feet of descent) of which about 8 miles is on road. Thus it is a bit longer than previously, and with considerably more up ‘n down.

Through the 1990s the Race continued on an annual basis, with Jim doing a great job in keeping it going. He fondly recalls all the enjoyment of these Races, and his marvelling at Brian Davidson’s 200 miles per week training regime. However, knowledge of the Race just tended to spread by word of mouth. Many of the early participants moved on to new pastures; but were not being replaced by new blood. The world at large just did not know of the Race’s existence; and it never quite reached critical mass insofar as numbers participating was concerned. At the end of the 1990s the event was seriously in danger of being discontinued through lack of uptake, and the gradually increasing burden of “safety requirements”, and related responsibilities, falling on the organiser’s shoulders.

However, two runners who had themselves completed the Race during the 1990s took the decision that this event was just “too much of a classic to die out and go away”. Step forward Dario Melaragni and Stan Milne.

The year 2000 saw a major boost (and possibly the survival of the event) with publicity surrounding very fast wins by both the men (Wim Epskamp 16:26) and the ladies (Kate Jenkins 17:37). This, as much as anything, raised the profile of the Race and brought it to a wider audience.

Dario became, effectively, “Mr West Highland Way Race” during a ten year period at the helm (up to and including 2009) in which the event changed out of all recognition from it’s early days ethos of “just turn up @ Milngavie and run to Fort William, the first to get there being the winner”. He designed the first Race website, and was unstinting in his encouragement to new people to take up the challenge of doing the Race.

Jim Drummond, Alan Kay and Jim Robertson present Dario Melaragni with a memento after organising 10 whw races

(June 2009 - Photo thanks to Davie Hall)

More participants (including many relatively “novice” runners) came on board, more formalised back-up support crews for runners, more organised checkpoints, mobile phone communications, first aiders, mountain rescue teams, Chris Ellis - the official ‘Race Doctor’, and much else besides, came into the equation. Dario took it all in his stride, but did not take kindly to the title “Race Director”, preferring in his quiet and unassuming way to simply be ‘the co-ordinator’ of it all. Sadly, neither Dario nor Stan is still with us; but their memory certainly lives on, and all involved with the race are greatly indebted to them.

From a few dozen runners starting each race just over a decade ago, and about half of them completing the distance, we now have about 150 toeing the line each year at Milngavie, and as many as 75% finishing. The 1991 onwards (“present day route”) fastest race time is now down from Wim’s 16:26 in 2000 to Jez Bragg’s 15:44 (in 2006); and, for the Ladies, Kate’s 17:37 in 2000 down to Lucy Colquhoun’s 17:16 (in 2007).

Following the 2011 Race a total of 643 people (affectionately known as ‘The Family’) have successfully completed the challenge ~ each completion entitling the finisher to a cherished engraved crystal goblet. Only 4 of the 643 have (so far) achieved the distinction of 10 or more finishers’ goblets: Jim Drummond (15), Alan Kay (13), Jim Robertson (12), Adrian Stott (12).