The Classic Sub 24 Hour Scottish Mountain Challenge

Charlie Ramsay
Charlie Ramsay

About Ramsay's Round

Just before noon on Sunday 9th July 1978, Charlie Ramsay from Edinburgh, Scotland, and a member of Lochaber Athletic Club in Fort William, was seen running down the lower slopes of Ben Nevis, his mind seemingly possessed by a desperate degree of urgency as he crossed over the footbridge and onwards for a further 25 metres past the youth hostel, to his finishing line.

There, his family and friends met him; as he checked his watch and fell to his knees with a mixture of exhaustion and elation.

For the previous 23 hours and 58 minutes, Charlie had climbed a total of 23 Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet/ 914.4 metres) of which Ben Nevis was the last. With just 2 minutes to spare he had achieved his dream of circuiting all the Lochaber mountains in a single day. Behind him he left a trail of exhausted bodies, his support team and even his teammate, Bobby Shields, who had to retire after 16 tops, so sustained was the pace.

Charlie had set a record, which was to last for nine years, and had created Scotland’s Classic Mountain Marathon, a distance of 56 miles/90.123 km and 28,500 feet/8686.8 metres of climbing.

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