Scottish triathlete Fergus Roberts has won the Celtman! Extreme Scottish Triathlon 2025 in his first attempt. The 30-year-old from Croy, near Inverness, triumphed in a time of 10 hours, 50 minutes and 18 seconds.
Fergus was delighted with his win. He said: “I “was very happy to win and I felt good throughout the race. I really enjoyed having my family and friends around me. It was a great race.”
In second place was Iain Veitch, also from Scotland, in 11:13:49 and in third was Swedish athlete Johan Hasselmark in 11: 36:27. Ross was absent from the Celtman! this year because he is racing this coming weekend at the XTRI Solo Point 5 World Champs.
In the female Celtman! race, the winner was Sonia Tomegros Regalado in 14:00:41 and 22nd overall. Runner up in the women’s race was Nicola Duggan in 14:34:22 and in third place was Naomi Shinkins in 14:43:03.
This year, only the top 30 competitors were allowed to complete the full course, including the high mountain running stage. After this, the mountains were closed to runners due to the threat of poor weather and they ran a full low-level marathon.
What is the Celtman!?
The Celtman! takes place in Wester Ross each June and comprises a 3.4km sea loch swim, 202km bike ride and a 42km run. The second part of the run is a mountain route via the Beinn Eighe massif, although there is a strict cut-off time after which other competitors complete a low-level course.
Last year’s winner and course record setter was Ross Creber and while Fergus was slightly faster than Ross in 2025, the bike course was 2km shorter, while the run section was 1km shorter.
Fergus: ‘I felt strong throughout the Celtman!
Fergus is an experienced triathlete and was an elite competitor during his time at the University of Stirling. He has enjoyed success at sprint and Olympic distance perviously and was in the reserve team for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
However, it was his first time in the Celtman! and he wasn’t sure how he would perform at the longer-distance multi-sport event. He said: “I have a tendency to push too hard at the start and this isn’t a good tactic at the longer distance triathlons, so I didn’t know how I would do in the Celtman!
“I have been training towards the race this year and I have really enjoyed it. I only moved up to the Highlands from Dunblane in Central Scotland in October last year and it was then that I decided I wanted to do a local race.”
Fergus, who is a member of Highland Hill Runners, was supported during the Celtman! by his wife Sara, as well as his mum Frances and friend Marc Austin, a former high-achieving triathlete. His running supporters are also friends. Jamie Crewe did the first part of the run, while Sam Fisher ran with Fergus on the mountain stage. Ben Van Dijk had been an original support runner but a climbing injury meant he switched his help to assisting Sara and Marc with bike section duties.
Fergus said: “I loved having family and friends with me for this race and it was great to have the support of Jamie and Sam for the run. They were both very good at pacing me and ensuring I didn’t go too fast at the start of each section. This paid off because it meant I ran strong throughout.”
Celtman! swim
The first part of the Celtman! is the swim and Fergus exited the water in second place. He said: “The swim went really well. I stuck to the feet of the first placed swimmer and enjoyed the whole swim. The water was calm and it felt warm. I didn’t have too many problems with jelly fish, which was a bonus.”
T1 to bike
Fergus, who is a geotechnical engineer, did a quick transition from swim to bike and he credits Sara for her help in the speedy turn-round. He led on the bike and increased his distance ahead of the fastest swimmer.
He said: “I got into the time-trial position and enjoyed the ride until about 90km. I was doing well and had created quite a lead.
“But then I started to struggle to get food in and the final part of the ride was into a headwind. I also suffered with cramps. I was then overtaken by Iain Veitch, but I didn’t panic.
“I knew I still had something to give in my legs and I thought I might still be able to pull it back on the run. I went into the next transition about four minutes behind Iain.”
Run to the finish line
Iain and Fergus exited T2 at around the same time. With Jamie, a two times National Cross Country champion, by his side, Fergus was cautious about his pace. He said: “Jamie kept the pace just right during the first 18k of the running stage. I think I would have gone too fast at the outset if it wasn’t for his sensible advice. We still had a long way to go and I knew I was a pretty good mountain runner.”
Even as he swapped to the mountains and was joined by Sam, Fergus was still just behind Iain. He said: “It was only as we reached close to the highest point on this part of the race on Beinn Eighe that I overtook Iain.
“I was still really enjoying the race and it has been nice to exchange a few pleasant words with Iain and his support runner.
“I then managed to get a bit ahead because I am a confident technical mountain runner. To be fair, though, Iain stayed close behind me and it wasn’t until the descent and the final road section that I really pushed hard. I wanted to get to the end and it was great to finish feeling strong.
“I felt fortunate that the leg cramps had not returned during the run and I was able to fuel myself again. I was very happy to win the Celtman!”
See Celtman! for more details about the race and the full results.