Northwich endurance completes Cape Wrath race for Tiny Steps

Hayley White, a medical PT who lives in Davenham, is no stranger to testing her limits after previously completing endurance races in the searing heat of the Sahara as well as the freezing Arctic.

This time however, it was taking on the unique demands of the Scottish Highlands - in a race known as Cape Wrath.

The scary name alone is enough to send shivers down the spine, but Hayley, who has been running for 20 years, proved more than up for the challenge as she completed the gruelling 270-mile course in just eight days.

“I started training for it in January as it’s a beast of an event that attracts an international field of runners,” Hayley explained.

“Unfortunately, the timing of the event coincided with the Tiny Steps Dave Holman Challenge, so I couldn’t do that so decided I’d do Cape Wrath for them instead.

“The route starts at Fort William and goes all the way up to a lighthouse called Cape Wrath in the most northerly part of Scotland.

“It’s obviously a very mountainous course and it’s very very tough – made even more difficult this year due to the weather being absolutely horrendous.

“This meant that less than 40 per cent of those who took part finished.”

The Cape Wrath route is in the most remote part of Scotland

As if running a mountainous course over such a long distance wasn’t difficult enough, competitors had to reach checkpoints by a certain time, otherwise they were out.

“You have to be completely self-sufficient too, which meant camping out every night, so you’re constantly facing the elements,” the 46-year-old added.

“I’ve been doing endurance races for the last 10 years now, including ones in the Sahara and then just before the pandemic, I did one in the Arctic.

“This is certainly up there with the toughest.

“Obviously the Arctic is on another level, due to the logistics involved.

“But with Cape Wrath, in order to be able to meet the cut-off times, you had to be running as much as possible.

“This part of Scotland is so remote that very few people have ever been through there.

“There are also criteria for those taking part and there were people there from all over the world, including Australia, Canada and South Africa.”

Hayley White was one of just 20 women to finish the 270 mile route

As well being one of just 20 women to finish, Hayley also managed to raise £2,640 for Tiny Steps.

You can still donate to her JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hayley-white46