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'I think I needed a cuddle at the end' — Cape Wrath Ultra reaches Kinlochbervie on day seven


By Niall Harkiss

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Enjoying day seven of CWU2022 - ©Cape Wrath Ultra & No Limits Photography
Enjoying day seven of CWU2022 - ©Cape Wrath Ultra & No Limits Photography

The lead changed again on day seven of the 2022 Cape Wrath Ultra, after 61km from Inchnadamph to Kinlochbervie.

For the second day in a row, Graham Walton was the fastest runner and in the process regained first position and built a good lead of 75 minutes over Thomas Øderud, who finished the day 96 minutes ahead of David Barry.

Thomas had been ill overnight, which affected his pace on the day.

In the women’s race, Laura O’Driscoll continued to struggle with her injured ankle, but goes into the final day 96 minutes ahead of Vicky Savage (fastest woman on the day), with Claire Gordon a further two and a half hours behind in third.

Graham commented after two days during which he lost and then regained the lead: "I think I needed a cuddle at the end yesterday. It was a bit too much. The guy was chasing me.

"He was starting a few minutes behind me each day and then trying to catch me, which he was doing.

"I don’t know what happened to Thomas [today], so I guess I’m going to sit here for five minutes. I want my lead.”

With only the shortest day of the race ahead of them, the remaining runners know that the end is almost in sight, and will be confident of completing the eight-day, 400km event.

The male and female leaders appear to have very defendable leads, but the 2022 Cape Wrath Ultra has already sprung plenty of surprises.

Male

1st Graham Walton (47:10:42)

2nd Thomas Øderud (48:25:39)

3rd David Barry (50:01:52).

Female

1st Laura O Driscoll (57:20:06)

2nd Vicky Savage (58:56:29)

3rd Claire Gordon (61:26:34).

Day eight has begun, with 26km of distance and 692m of ascent between the runners and the finishing line at Cape Wrath Lighthouse, the most north westerly point of mainland Britain. You can read more about today’s route at The Route — Cape Wrath Ultra®.

Track the runners’ progress live at live.opentracking.co.uk/capewrathultra22.


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