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Ready, steady… Entries to open for Salomon Glen Coe Skyline 2016

Written by Fiona

January 28 2016

If you hope to gain a place in  the epic Scottish high altitude race, the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline 2016, you had better be ready. It’s predicted that places will fill within hours of the entry application opening at 12:00 GMT on Monday February 1. Luckily, there will be two other new races to enter if you are not successful.

This is the second year of the widely acclaimed Salomon Glen Coe Skyline, which takes place in the Scottish Highlands, In 2016, the event joins the prestigious Skyrunner World Series.

In anticipation of this increased demand, the organisers have added two new races, the Mamores Vertical Kilometre and the Ring of Steall Skyrace, to the weekend of racing, which now looks like this:

•    Friday September 16: Mamores Vertical Kilometre®
•    Saturday September 17: Ring of Steall Skyrace™
•    Sunday September 18: Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™

2015 British Fell Running Champion Jasmin Paris in action at the 2015 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. © Ian Corless

2015 British Fell Running Champion Jasmin Paris in action at the 2015 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. © Ian Corless

Race director Shane Ohly said: “The Mamores Vertical Kilometre will be the UK’s first VK. It will be an incredible leg-burning and lung-busting ascent from sea level to Munro summit, with competitors racing to gain 1000m of ascent in less than 5km.

“The following day we have our first Ring of Steall Skyrace, which is a variation of the classic Ring of Steall ridge walking route. Our course provides 25km and 2,500m of mountain running with spectacular views of Ben Nevis from the Mamores and includes short sections of easy scrambling.”

Will Manners, pictured on the Aonach Eagach Ridge, finished 22nd overall at the 2015 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. © Ian Corless

Will Manners, pictured on the Aonach Eagach Ridge, finished 22nd overall at the 2015 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. © Ian Corless

Salomon Glen Coe Skyline

The Salomon Glen Coe Skyline is acclaimed for the technical terrain that the race route covers, including scrambling up Curved Ridge and along the famous ridge, the Aonach Eagach. Entries to this event are subject to vetting by the organisers.

The Salomon Glen Coe Skyline will see the stars of Skyrunning competing in Scotland for what is expected to be the most competitive mountain running field seen for a generation in the UK.

The €5,000 cash prize fund for the leading runners is sure to raise a few eyebrows and encourage the best British fell and mountain runners to compete.

Skyrunning World Champion (Ultra) Emelie Forsberg was enthusiastic in her support for the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline™ after finishing second overall in 2015:. She said: “Waow! Seriously the best race in this distance.”

The 2016 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline will be the last race in the new Skyrunner® World Series Extreme category, so two new World Champions (male and female) will be crowned at the end of the race.

Kerstin Rosenqvist, of Sweden, on the Aonach Eagach Ridge. She was fifth female at the 2015 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. © Ian Corless

Kerstin Rosenqvist, of Sweden, on the Aonach Eagach Ridge. She was fifth female at the 2015 Salomon Glen Coe Skyline. © Ian Corless

Two more high-level races

Entries to the Mamores Vertical Kilometre and Ring of Steall Skyrace are unrestricted and, although the mountain environment into which both these races venture is challenging, they are less serious than the Salomon Glen Coe Skyline.

See SkylineScotland

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