The WHW Race Pod shares the stories, struggles and spirit of the West Highland Way Race, Scotland’s iconic 95-mile ultramarathon from Milngavie to Fort William. Hosted by three-time race winner Paul Giblin, the podcast goes beyond results and splits. We talk to runners, volunteers, race organisers and crew members about what really happens before, during and after the race. Expect honest conversations, reflections and powerful moments from one of the most respected endurance events in the UK. Whether you're a past runner, a future participant or simply drawn to the mountains and the meaning behind long-distance running, this podcast is for you.
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A Conversation with Gus Irvine: When Winning Doesn't Feel Like Winning
Épisode 13
jeudi 16 juillet 2026 • Durée 55:35
Show Notes
A Conversation with Gus Irvine: When Winning Doesn't Feel Like Winning
Three weeks after winning the 2026 West Highland Way Race for the second consecutive year, Gus Irvine joins Paul Giblin for a very different kind of conversation.
Rather than revisiting splits, tactics or race strategy, this episode explores what happened after the finish line.
Despite leading from Balmaha to Fort William and successfully defending his title, Gus describes feeling surprisingly flat throughout much of race day and in the weeks that followed. What should have been one of the proudest moments of his running career instead became a confusing experience that left him questioning why the expected feelings of satisfaction and joy never arrived.
Together, Paul and Gus discuss:
What it felt like defending a title rather than chasing one
Battling mentally for more than 60 miles
Why winning wasn't the rewarding experience Gus expected
The role of crew when an athlete hides how much they're struggling
Whether success and fulfilment are always the same thing
Lessons that may only make sense months, or years later
It's an honest conversation about performance, expectation, identity and the complicated emotions that sometimes follow achieving a long-held goal.
Whether you've raced the West Highland Way yourself or simply chased something important in your own life, this episode offers a reminder that the story rarely ends at the finish line.
About the West Highland Way Race Podcast
The West Highland Way Race Podcast shares conversations with runners, organisers, volunteers and people connected to one of Scotland's most iconic ultramarathons. From race previews and practical advice to personal stories and post-race reflections, each episode explores what makes this event so special.
About the host
Paul Giblin is a three-time West Highland Way Race winner, endurance coach and founder of Pyllon Ultra.
You can connect with Paul here:
Instagram: @pyllon @pyllonultra
Pyllon Ultra: www.pyllonultra.com
YouTube: Pyllon
Podcast: Pyllon Ultra Pod
Roberta Fletcher: Winning the 2026 West Highland Way Race
Épisode 12
mercredi 1 juillet 2026 • Durée 01:14:46
Roberta Fletcher finished third in the West Highland Way Race in 2024. She returned a year later and finished second. In 2026, she completed that progression by winning the women’s race in 18 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds.
It was a brilliantly controlled performance. Roberta was seventh woman at Balmaha, but remained calm, trusted the effort she had planned and gradually moved through the field. She reached second place by Beinglas, took the lead before Tyndrum and continued to build her advantage all the way to Fort William.
In this episode, Roberta talks to Paul about how she moved from running 10Ks to entering the West Highland Way Race, after first experiencing the event while supporting another runner in 2023.
They discuss the influence of the communities around her as well as the increase in training volume that allowed Roberta to make such a significant improvement over three years.
Roberta also explains why she set herself the intimidating target of 18:45, how she avoided being distracted by the other women in the race, and why running by feel helped her stay composed when the early checkpoint times were slower than expected.
There is also plenty about the team behind the result: her twin sister leading the crew, the change from gels to sandwiches, bananas and pork pies, and the carefully chosen song that helped send her out of the final checkpoint towards Fort William.
This is a conversation about patient progress, trusting the preparation and learning to enjoy the process rather than allowing the result to dominate it.
Congratulations to Roberta Fletcher, the 2026 women’s West Highland Way Race champion.
Follow the West Highland Way Race on Instagram at @whw_race.
Find out more about the race at westhighlandwayrace.org.
Please follow or subscribe to the West Highland Way Race Podcast and share the episode with anyone who might enjoy it.
The Work Is Done: Closing in on the West Highland Way Race
Épisode 11
vendredi 5 juin 2026 • Durée 10:05
The Work Is Done: Only Days Until the West Highland Way Race
With less than a couple of weeks to go until the West Highland Way Race, many runners find themselves asking the same question:
"Have I done enough?"
In this episode, Paul reflects on the final days before race day and explores why the focus now should shift away from training and towards preparation, mindset and decision-making.
The reality is that almost all of the fitness you'll take to the start line is already built. The work is done.
So what actually matters now?
Drawing on his experience of running the race ten times, winning it, crewing it, coaching athletes through it, and obsessing over it for years, Paul shares some thoughts on:
• Why goals matter more than most runners realise
• Understanding the difference between competing and completing
• Finding your deeper reason for being on the start line
• Identifying the things most likely to limit your performance
• Why decision-making becomes one of the most important skills in a 100-mile race
• How to respond when plans inevitably go wrong
• Avoiding race-week panic and last-minute doubt
• Remembering to enjoy the experience and the journey
Whether you're racing the WHW this year or preparing for any big endurance challenge, this episode is a reminder to trust the work you've already done and focus on making the best use of it.
The countdown is nearly over.
See you in Milngavie.
Hosted by Paul Giblin.
West Highland Way Race
Crewing the West Highland Way Race (or any long ultra)
Épisode 10
mardi 19 mai 2026 • Durée 19:38
WHW Race Pod
In this episode of the WHW Race Pod, Paul talks about one of the most important and often overlooked parts of the West Highland Way Race experience: crewing.
The WHW is one of the few races where having a crew is mandatory, and the relationship between runner and crew can genuinely shape the outcome of the race. A calm, organised and adaptable crew can help carry a runner through the hardest moments. Poor communication and poor preparation can quickly unravel things.
Drawing from years of racing, crewing, coaching and being around the event, Paul shares practical advice for both runners and crews ahead of race day.
Topics include:
Why runners should properly brief their crews before race day
Going through realistic race plans and timings together
Setting clear expectations and communicating honestly
How crews should handle difficult emotional moments during the race
Why adaptability matters more than the perfect plan
The importance of staying calm when things change unexpectedly
Organisation, logistics and avoiding unnecessary chaos
Looking after yourself as a crew member during a very long day
Treating volunteers, crews and fellow runners with respect
Why perspective matters during ultras
Embracing the unique atmosphere and community of the WHW bubble
This episode is aimed at anyone involved in the West Highland Way Race this year, whether you’re running, crewing or supporting. But much of the conversation will apply to any long ultramarathon.
If you know someone preparing to crew an ultra, feel free to send this episode to them.
With the West Highland Way Race now just a couple of months away, many runners find themselves in a familiar place.
Training hasn’t quite gone how they hoped.
Missed sessions. Disrupted consistency. Life getting in the way.
And with that often comes a quiet pressure to catch up. To do more, and to fix things quickly.
In this episode, Paul explores why that instinct can lead you further away from where you want to be… and how to approach this final phase of training with clarity, control, and purpose.
In this episode:
Why the “perfect training block” is largely a myth
The common trap of trying to cram fitness late in the build
A personal story from student life that reframes how to use limited time effectively
How to shift from “catching up” to “making the most of what you have”
What actually matters in the final 6–8 weeks before race day
Building a simple, effective plan
Structuring your weeks around consistency rather than intensity
The role of the long run and why it should feel controlled, not exhausting
Using back-to-back runs to build durability without overreaching
Why easy running needs to stay genuinely easy
Practising fuelling so it becomes automatic on race day
Learning sustainable pacing through feel, not guesswork
Why recovery, sleep, and nutrition are part of the training process
Managing life alongside training
Handling periods of increased life stress, including moving house close to race day
Understanding total load, not just training load
Protecting sleep and creating intentional downtime
Reducing decision fatigue by planning ahead
Adjusting training without losing rhythm
Why arriving slightly undertrained but fresh is often better than overtrained and exhausted
Reframing where you are
Letting go of the idea that training needed to be perfect
Race Links
The Hidden Skill of the West Highland Way: Enduring the Ordinary
Épisode 8
jeudi 26 mars 2026 • Durée 19:53
SHOW NOTES
Most people imagine the West Highland Way Race as something dramatic. The climbs. The tough sections. The big moments where everything is on the line.
And those moments are part of it.But they’re not the race.
In this episode, we explore one of the most overlooked skills in ultrarunning - the ability to handle the long, quiet, repetitive stretches where nothing much is happening.
Because that’s where most of the West Highland Way actually takes place.
From the steady miles along Loch Lomond, to the mental shift after Balmaha when the day opens up and the reality of the race sets in, this is the side of the event that often catches runners out.
We talk about:
Why the “big moments” are only a small part of the race
What it really feels like during the long, uneventful stretches
How your mind starts to drift when there’s nothing to react to
The trap of overthinking when everything is actually going well
What I’ve seen while crewing at the race, especially as the field spreads out
Why training needs to include boredom, not just intensity
How to stay steady when nothing is pulling you forward
This is the unglamorous side of the West Highland Way. The unseen miles but necessary miles. The ones that don’t make the highlight reel.
But they’re often the ones that decide your race.
🎧 Listen if you’re:
Training for the West Highland Way Race
Struggling with long, uneventful runs
Finding your mind drifting during training or racing
Looking to improve your consistency over long distances
🎙️ About the Host
This podcast is hosted by Paul, a three-time winner of the West Highland Way Race and former course record holder.
🔗 WHW Race Pod
Sixteen Weeks: Decide or Drift
Épisode 7
jeudi 26 février 2026 • Durée 18:24
Show Notes
In this episode of the WHW Race Pod, I’m speaking directly to those of you who are about sixteen weeks out from the West Highland Way Race.
This is a deceptively important point in the build.
It’s where people either decide… or they drift.
Drift doesn’t look dramatic. It doesn’t look like quitting. It looks like training that’s “fine.” Weeks that tick over. Long runs that feel comfortable. Sessions that become optional.
And you don’t notice drift in one week.
You notice it in eight, and you feel it at 65 miles.
In this episode, I break down:
Why sixteen weeks is a dangerous but powerful phase
The difference between imperfection and drift
What strong preparation actually looks like in the data
How four-week training blocks should layer and absorb
Aerobic density and why steady matters more than sharp
Climbing economy and durability specific to WHW
Long run progression without dramatic spikes
Back-to-back fatigue exposure
Fuel rehearsal before it becomes urgent
Why discomfort should be practised, not avoided
I also speak personally about why this race matters to me, and why I care so much about how you use this phase.
The West Highland Way is not designed to be comfortable. Difficulty is built into the course. The runners who thrive here are not the ones who hope it goes well. They’re the ones who expect the hard moments - because they’ve rehearsed them.
Sixteen weeks is enough time to change your trajectory.
But only if you decide now.
Key Themes
Structure versus drift
Training blocks and progression
Listen IfGet in Touch - Share Your StoryRace LinksAbout the HostAbout the WHW Race Pod
Written Into the Trail: Lucy Colquhoun and the Record That Endures
Épisode 6
jeudi 12 février 2026 • Durée 58:51
Show Notes
In this episode of the WHW Race Pod, I sit down with Lucy Colquhoun, who still holds the women’s course record at the West Highland Way Race, set in 2007 in a time of 17:16:20.
Nearly two decades later, that performance still stands. But this conversation goes far beyond splits and statistics.
Lucy reflects on who she was when she lined up in Milngavie in 2007: an enthusiastic amateur who had only started running in her thirties, discovering endurance almost by accident. We explore what training looked like in a different era, before social media, before nutrition plans and performance data were everywhere, when hill running was still deeply grassroots.
She shares:
How she was “strong-armed” into entering the race after running the Highland Fling
The simplicity of her preparation, and the discipline behind it
Realising halfway through the race that she was leading
The moment the course record became a possibility
Bonking at Cramond Cottage and bouncing back
The emotional complexity of still holding a record so many years later
Lucy also opens up about something deeper: identity.
What happens when racing is no longer central to your life?
What does it mean to step away from competition?
How do you hold pride without becoming defined by one performance?
We also touch on her incredible victory at CCC in Chamonix the following year, and the psychology of validation, comparison, and purpose in endurance sport.
This is a thoughtful, honest conversation about legacy, humility, and the private reasons we run.
If you’re preparing for the West Highland Way Race this year, this episode is a reminder that the experience itself is what endures. Records may stand or fall. But what you learn about yourself out there stays with you.
Key ThemesListen If
What Are You Really Training For? - Episode 5
Épisode 5
jeudi 29 janvier 2026 • Durée 07:35
The WHW Audio Companion – Week 1
In this episode of the WHW Race Pod, Paul introduces the WHW Audio Companion - a short, reflective series designed to support runners through the training months leading into the West Highland Way Race.
This isn’t a training plan or a list of sessions. It’s guided thinking.
Paul explores the deeper question that sits underneath every long build: what are you really training for, beyond the race name, the distance, or the finish time?
Drawing on his own experiences training for the West Highland Way and Western States, as well as years of coaching athletes preparing for long-distance races, Paul reflects on:
The moment when training goes quiet and belief starts to wobble
Why belief can’t be faked, and why this phase of training matters
How doubt and discomfort are not problems to solve, but part of the work
What athletes often think they’re training for, and what they’re actually preparing for
Why character, not just fitness, decides the later stages of long races
This episode sets the foundation for the Audio Companion series and offers a clear focus for the next period of training: not just building fitness, but shaping the person you’ll need to be on race day.
If you’re training for the West Highland Way, another long race, or simply trying to stay connected to your “why” during a demanding block, this episode is an invitation to slow down, reflect, and realign.
Get in Touch – Share Your Story
If you’ve got a story you’d like to share, something you’d love to hear explored on the podcast, or an experience from the West Highland Way that still stays with you, you’re very welcome to get in touch.
You can:
Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
WhatsApp:
Why the West Highland Way Is Different - Episode 4
Épisode 4
jeudi 15 janvier 2026 • Durée 11:33
In this episode of the WHW Race Pod, Paul explores what makes the West Highland Way Race different from so many other ultramarathons.
This isn’t a breakdown of splits, cut-offs, or results. It’s a reflection on the quieter qualities of the race - the ones that don’t always show up on a start line or a screen.
Paul shares his own journey into the race, from first hearing about it at a time when life felt stuck, through to racing it in his first year of ultrarunning. Along the way, he reflects on the atmosphere of the Milngavie start, the weight of the race’s history, the deceptive nature of the route, and what really happens to runners as the hours – and nights – pass.
This episode explores:
Why the West Highland Way doesn’t need spectacle to be meaningful
How the route slowly reveals how you’re really doing
The kind of runners the race tends to attract, and why so many return
Why times and placings only ever tell a small part of the story
What remains long after Fort William
Paul also reflects on the legacy of John Kynaston and the original WHW podcast, and why continuing to tell the deeper stories of the race still matters.
If you’re training for the West Highland Way, thinking about it for the future, or simply curious about what makes certain races stay with us, this episode is an invitation to look beyond noise and numbers, and reconnect with what really matters.
Get in Touch - Share Your Story
If there’s a story you’d like to share, something you’d love to hear covered on the podcast, or an experience from the West Highland Way that still stays with you, you’re very welcome to get in touch.
You can:
Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
WhatsApp: +44 7418 609498
Or message on Instagram:
Podcasts Similaires Basées sur le Contenu
Découvrez des podcasts liées à WHW Race POD. Explorez des podcasts avec des thèmes, sujets, et formats similaires. Ces similarités sont calculées grâce à des données tangibles, pas d'extrapolations !
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider sharing it with another runner, crew member or supporter of the race. Word of mouth genuinely helps us grow the show and celebrate the people and stories that make the West Highland Way Race so special.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider sharing it with another runner or leaving a rating or review. It genuinely helps more people discover the show.
Recognising the experience and resilience you already have
Learning to respond, adapt, and move forward without overreacting
A practical reflection to try
Take time to write down:
Key experiences that show your resilience
Moments where you’ve handled difficulty well
Strengths you can rely on during the race
Often, the evidence you need is already there.
Key message
You can’t recreate missed training. But you can make smart decisions now.
Consistency, control, and clarity in this final phase will take you further than trying to force what’s already gone.
About the host
The WHW Race Pod is hosted by Paul, a three-time winner of the West Highland Way Race, with deep experience of the race and a strong connection to its community.
Having spent years racing, training on, and crewing at the event, Paul brings a deeper perspective on what it really takes to perform well on the course.
The WHW Race Pod is about more than results and race day highlights.
It’s about understanding the experience of the race itself and preparing for the parts that don’t always get talked about.
If you enjoyed the episode, share it with someone else preparing for the race.
And if you’re lining up at Milngavie this year, this is the part of the race worth preparing for.
Aerobic density and sustained effort
Climbing strength and composure
Fatigue exposure and durability
Nutrition rehearsal
Discomfort as skill
Identity, readiness, and quiet belief
You’re sixteen weeks out from WHW
You feel slightly unsettled about your preparation
Your training looks consistent but lacks edge
You want clarity on how to structure the next four months
You’re serious about arriving in Milngavie ready
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone preparing for the race, and consider leaving a review. It helps more people discover the stories behind the trail.
I’ll be back soon.
Paul
If you’ve got a story you’d like to share, something you’d love to hear explored on the podcast, or an experience from the West Highland Way that still stays with you, you’re very welcome to get in touch.
You can:
Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
WhatsApp: +447418609498
Or message on Instagram:
@pyllon
Some of the most powerful stories are the ones people almost don’t send.
The WHW Race Pod explores the stories, experiences, and quieter moments that shape the West Highland Way Race.
Beyond results and records, it’s a space for reflection, connection, and the human side of running one of the world’s most iconic ultras.
Simplicity versus modern complexity in training
Grassroots ultrarunning in Scotland in the 2000s
Running to feel rather than to pace
Identity beyond performance
Comparison as “the thief of joy”
The changing culture of the sport
Pride without ego
You’re lining up for WHW this year
You’re curious about the history of the race
You’re navigating your own relationship with performance and identity
You’ve ever wondered what it feels like to hold a long-standing course record
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone preparing for the race, and consider leaving a review. It helps more people discover the stories behind the trail.
I’ll be back soon.
Paul
Get in Touch – Share Your Story
If you’ve got a story you’d like to share, something you’d love to hear explored on the podcast, or an experience from the West Highland Way that still stays with you, you’re very welcome to get in touch.
You can:
Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
WhatsApp: +447418609498
Or message on Instagram:
@pyllon
Some of the most powerful stories are the ones people almost don’t send.
