Update: Finlay Wild 14:42:40, 31st August 2020 (pending incorporation into main text below).

This is the classic Scottish 24-hour mountain running challenge — a round taking in the Mamores, followed by Beinn na Lap, Chno Dearg, Stob Coire Sgriodain and the Stob Coires (Easains), returning back along the Grey Corries, Aonach Beag, Aonach Mor, Carn Mor Dearg, and culminating dramatically on Ben Nevis after 56+ miles (28,000 feet of ascent). The usual (now required) start/finish is the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel, and it was first achieved by Charlie Ramsay on 8th/9th July 1978.

The record is now 16 hrs 12 mins, set on 6th July 2019 by Es Tresidder [ref. UKC Interview]. This narrowly toppled the 16 hrs 13 mins set by Jasmin Paris on 18th June 2016, which remains the women's record. Jasmin's time stood for three years as both women's and outright record, beating both Jon Ascroft's 16 hrs 59 mins from 5th July 2015 and Nicky Spinks's 19 hrs 39 mins from 31st May 2014... an astonishing achievement when only Jon Ascroft, Adrian Belton (1989) and Jez Bragg (2015) had previously gone sub-19, with Belton's 18 hrs 23 mins and the 20 hrs 24 mins of Helene Diamantides (also 1989) standing unchallenged for many years. [Refs. Carnethy Hill Running Club, FRA Forums, UKH Newflash, HS, MM, FRA Forums.]

There are now (at July 2019) 158 recorded sub-24 completions of the round, with a few runners (notably Jon Gay, Nicky Spinks and Graham Nash) logging more than one. While it is widely believed that the round is easier in a clockwise direction (starting with the Ben and the rougher terrain, finishing on the easier running of the Mamores) and the majority of completions have been done that way, it is worth noting that several fastest times including the current record have been set in the original anticlockwise direction.

Ramsay's Round is significantly harder than England's Bob Graham Round, to which it is frequently compared. The terrain is steeper and rougher, there are fewer paths, and arranging support points is more complicated.

While only sub-24-hour completions technically qualify as 'Ramsay's Rounds', some impressive winter completions in pursuit of this goal saw times tumbling over a decade, with 53 hrs 34 mins by Glyn Jones (the first) in 2002 being followed by 32 hrs 48 mins by Gary Tompsett in 2003, 29 hrs 59 mins by Shane Ohly in February 2008 and 26 hrs 57 mins by Tom Phillips [Ref: UKC report] on 11th/12th December 2012. But it was local runner Jon Gay who finally scooped the big prize [Ref: FRA forums] with his stunning 23 hrs 18 mins on 23rd/24th February 2013...

Running solo and clockwise with a single support point at the Loch Treig Dam, Jon certainly enjoyed stunning conditions (good enough to have attracted two further independent attempts the same weekend!) with good snow cover and a near-full moon. But his triumph was also richly deserved after many attempts and much groundwork over the years, and ultimately still hard-won when his was the only one of the three simultaneous attempts to complete the round. So hearty congratulations to Jon (whose report you can read on UKHillwalking and the FRA forums) for this hugely coveted achievement!

Jon's time has since been slightly bettered in conditions of much sparser snow cover by Donnie Campbell, who recorded 23 hrs 6 mins running anticlockwise on 2nd/3rd December 2016 [Ref: Facebook], and by a more significant margin by Jim Mann, who achieved 22 hrs 23 mins in the same anticlockwise direction on 21st/22nd January 2017 in conditions apparently somewhere between the two previous records [Refs: Carnethy HRC and Facebook].

On 2nd July 2018, Nicky Spinks completed a 'double Ramsay Round with a variation' in 55 hrs 56 mins 38 secs, covering all the ground twice through two long out-and-backs (first clockwise, then anticlockwise) to Stob Coire Easain in seriously hot, dry conditions. [Ref: UKC News.]

There's more information about the round and its history on Charlie Ramsay's site. See also Climber magazine 10/96 (article by Ronald Turnbull) and SHR 1/96 (report by Colin Donnelly, including schedule).

Page updated 20th July 2019