Keri Wallace, of Ballachulish, in the Scottish Highlands, has set a new female record for the Tranter’s Round in winter. The co-founder of Girls on Hills completed the 58km (36 miles) mountain route in Scotland in 21 hours and 5 minutes.
The Tranter’s Round, which starts and finishes at Glen Nevis, includes more than 6100m (20,000ft) of ascent to reach the summit of 18 Munros (and a Munro Top, Sgurr an Lubhair). The route reaches all of the Mamores, the Grey Corries, the Aonachs and then Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis, which is Britain’s highest mountain.
The previous female record holder was Helen Rennard. In 2018, she was the first women to complete the Tranter’s Round within the winter fell running calendar (Dec 1 to Mar 1), setting a record of 23:30.
Andy Berry ran the overall winter Tranter’s record of 13:45, while US runner Jack Kuenzle holds the overall summer record of 8:38.
The Tranter’s Round is named after Philip Tranter, who first completed it in 1964. It is acclaimed as Scotland’s original 24-hour challenge, before being extended by Charlie Ramsay in 1978 to become the Ramsay Round.
Keri’s winter Tranter’s goal
Having completed a summer Tranter’s Round last June in 17 hours, 29 minutes, Keri was keen to try a winter round. She started the record-setting winter round at 03:54 on Sunday February 5 and finished early on the Monday morning. See Strava.
She says: “I was inspired by Helen Rennard’s winter Tranter’s Round in 2018. She ran much of the round solo and I was massively impressed with her achievement, as well as excited that an FKT – or Only Known Time (OKT) as these things are sometimes described – had been finally been set for women.
“Drawing this first line in the sand is often all that’s required to encourage more women to have a go and to kick-start the succession of female finishers who will bring the record down over time.”
For context, runners have been setting ever faster times for the longer winter Ramsay’s Round record since 2002 although this route has still not been completed by a woman.
But a winter round can be tricky, not least because it is difficult to find the right weather window. Keri has already tried for a winter Tranter’s round four times before.
She says: “The biggest challenge of this round was finding the right window and being ready and able to capitalise on it. This round was actually my fifth attempt with the first being in Decemeber 2020.
“Even as a local, it has been really hard to find a window when everything lined-up. On previous attempts, the snow proved to be too deep and powdery or too windy and cold.
“On my very first attempt, my support runner got injured about three-quarters of the way through the round and I was faced with the option of continuing to finish alone. I had, however, previously made the personal safety decision that I didn’t want to run any of the technical sections, such as the CMD arete or Ring of Steall, alone in darkness, especially on tired legs, so I was forced to retire.
“As a mum to two young children, it’s not simply a case of finding the right snow and weather conditions either. For the round to ‘go’ I had to have childcare available, be fit enough, be uninjured and be healthy. And that includes me and the kids, which is no mean feat in winter.”
Keri finally spotted a short weather window earlier this month. She says: “I knew it was going to be short, but I was desperate. There were gales in the West Highlands on the Saturday and these were only forecast to drop at around midnight. The next day was a full moon and so a very early morning start seemed a sensible way to get some sleep, while making the most of the lower winds.”
Keri started out clockwise from the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel, completing the mountains known as the 4000ers in low to moderate winds and with a clear sky.
Following a recent thaw and refreeze, she described the snow was incredibly hard, with good cover over the bigger hills. There had also been some fresh snow overnight, down to around 600m.
She says: “There were huge solid cornices and the steepest snow slopes pushed my running crampons to their very limit. Then there was enough good snow over the Grey Corries for some fast snow-running.
“By the time I reached Sgurr Eilde Mor, the wind was already getting up again, as had been forecast, and it was gusting around 40mph as I climbed the east ridge of Binnein Mòr.
“There was a lot of spin-drift and some snow-devils whipping around, so I had to put on our goggles to make progress. A few times, Jess, my support runner, and I had to stand still and brace against axe and poles and I thought for a while that it might not be possible to carry on.
“Fortunately, conditions seemed easier – although still very gusty – on the summit and we were able to keep going.
“I would say that the winds dropped slightly from around 6pm and that made things much more tolerable. On Am Bodach, low cloud settled in and it began to drizzle. It had warmed considerably since the morning, so before long we were soaked.
“Thankfully this stopped around Sgurr a’ Mhaim, which was a welcome shift and we ran along the Mamores ridge to the final summit.
“On the Mamores, underfoot conditions were a mixture of solid snow-cover and thin fresh snow on rocks.”
During the round, Keri had less than nine hours of daylight.
Support on Keri’s winter Tranter’s Round
Keri does all of her winter running solo and so it had been an ambition to run all of the daylight hours of the Tranter’s without support, as she had done in previous attempts.
However, in the end, the window that presented itself was what Keri describes as “a funny time of day”. She explains: “the short weather window was bookended by high winds and rain. This meant that all the technical sections had to be completed in darkness, which I hadn’t wanted to do alone.
“In the end, I plumped for fully supported, based on the notion that done is better than perfect.
“I had one supporter for each half – Al Docherty (first half) and Jess Williams (second half). They were both amazing. Nancy Kennedy, also co-founder of Girls on Hills, came into the changeover point to bring hot coffee and super noodles.
“My support also extended beyond the hills to friends, mums and the village community, who all chipped in with encouragement, sleepovers, lifts, school pick-ups and play-dates to make this – and previous attempts – happen. I think we’re all a bit relieved it’s finally over!”
Highlights of the winter Tranter’s record
Keri describes some of the best moments on her record-breaking winter Tranter’s round. She says: “There was an incredible pink light over Ben Nevis as we climbed Aonach Mor and a bright orange sunrise on the summit.
“Conditions underfoot were so solid up there, it was like a blueish ice-rink on the Aonach Mór plateau.
“Another great moment came after the Mamores, which had been very windy and with poor visibility from halfway along. It was a massive relief to drop off the hill and make it along the track to the youth hostel and to see my friend and colleague, Nancy, waving excitedly at the finish.
“I also really enjoyed sharing the adventure with my supporters, which frankly made it much more enjoyable throughout.”
Who is Keri Wallace?
As well as being a mum to two young children and part of the Girls on Hills team, Keri, 43, is an accomplished runner.
She was the first woman to record a time (OKT) for the Tour of the Mamores and Round of Glencoe. She finished fifth in the Ben Nevis Ultra race in 2021 and she also has many years of Scottish winter climbing and winter mountaineering experience.
She believes the Tranter’s Round is one of the best high-level technical outings in Scotland. She says: “It links the all the classic mountain terrain of the Lochaber region in one memorable journey. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Although, the winter round is definitely a different ball game to the summer experience.”
To train for the Tranter’s, Keri has been increasing her flat distance mileage, while also trying to keep plenty of ascent into her weekly output. She says: “I do a lot of easy paced base training and a little speedwork.”
What is Girls on Hills?
Girls on Hills aims to empower women with the skills and confidence to become independent in the mountain environment. They offer guided runs across the Scottish Highlands. I will be speaking about menopause and fitness at one of this year’s event. Over-50s trail running in May 2023.