A TEAM of fell runners has broken the relay record for the fastest time to summit all 282 of Scotland’s Munros.
The Fellkour Squad completed a relay up every Munro – a Scottish mountain with a peak above 3000 feet – in 10 days, 18 hours, and 16 minutes.
They ran – and swam – a relay through 24 hours a day in heavy rain, snow, wind and sunshine, averaging a sub-one-hour pace per Munro at 54 minutes 57 seconds.
In total, they ran for 216 hours and 24 minutes, covering 1505 km with a total elevation gain of 117,371 metres.
Their new record is more than one day faster than the previous relay best, which was set in 1993 at 11 days, 20 hours, and 16 minutes. The Fellkour relay followed rules set up in the 1990s, with the baton carried on foot over the hills but transported by vehicle on public roads and by standard car ferries between mountain sections.
The Fellkour team members say they are ready to do it again next year and hope to break their own record should the weather be on their side.
There were seven members in the team: Alistair “TDog” Thornton, Benjamin van Dijk, Ferg Roberts, Harry “CoolDog” Cooling, Jack Ravenscroft, Ross Spaulding, and Sam Fisher.
They completed their tour at 11.51pm Sunday night on Blà Bheinn on the Isle of Skye.
Van Dijk said: “We’re all absolutely buzzing and thinking about our next project.”
The Fellkour Squad’s name comes from the team’s “shared passion for fell running and parkour-inspired approach to moving across the mountains”.
Most of the squad first met in Cumbria, where fell running is a popular sport, before later studying or working in the Stirling region.
The first relay took place in 1990 and was run in aid of The Association for International Cancer Research, now called Worldwide Cancer Research. The second relay took place in 1993 and was run in aid of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).
In contrast, the current overall record for climbing all 282 Munros in a continuous, self‑propelled round is 31 days, 10 hours and 27 minutes, set by ultra‑runner Jamie Aarons in June 2023.
She travelled between peaks only by foot, bike and kayak, beating the previous overall record set by Donnie Campbell in 2020, who completed a self‑propelled round of all 282 Munros in 31 days, 23 hours and 2 minutes.
