Rowardennan-Inversnaid-Rob Roy’s Cave and back (25KM, 16Miles)

Today I went for my long run on the WHW. By Friday I was still not able to run properly so I was not sure if I would just walk the 25K or be able to run part of it. Luckily after the weather was so bad on Saturday we decided to postpone our run until today. We had actually walked to the car yesterday but the wind and rain felt so uncomfortable that we went back inside! And luckily for us today the sun was shining and we both had a brilliant day. So had hundreds of other people though – the WHW was as busy as I have never seen it, walkers, a few runners, groups of kids and teenagers, families, day tourists etc.

I had dropped Thomas off in Milngavie as he was going to run from there to Rowardennan. When I got to Rowardennan car park there was no space left! I then spotted a car that had occupied 2 spaces and the driver and his friend were just taking photos by the water. I asked politely if he could move his car so that I could park next to him. But no, this nice gentleman pointed out that there were lots of other spaces where in fact there are bolders and trees that might look like a space from the distance. “I would not say so if it was not true …” he pointed out probably having never been to Rowardennan car park before. I had though and already circled around it at least once today. I squeezed onto a grass verge hoping that the car would not get stuck in the mud afterwards. I then met these 2 gentlemen again just at the start of my run and needless to say I did not return their greeting.

Anyway, the run turned out to be great. My legs were o.k. so I could run on the flat and downhill sections and walked the uphills. The sun was shining and it felt great to be out there. The Loch was magical especially when the path came so close to the water and you could hear the water lapping against the shore. The views across to the hills were fabulous. My right Achilles region gave me some minor problems and I was trying not to walk uphill on my toes but to use my whole foot.

This was my second time on this section. Four years ago I walked it as part of our Honeymoon, then I was on my own as well as Thomas had decided at Rowardennan he could ran up Ben Lomond while I continued on the WHW. So he handed me his backpack ( it was only a daypack admittedly) and off he went. I should have realized then what I got myself into! But by then it was too late anyway!:-)

I passed Inversnaid and ran to Rob Roy’s Cave to get my 25K distance. On my way back I stopped outside Inversnaid, had a Snickers and started my run back. The Snickers was a bit too much and I was not feeling too great initially. Slowly it got better and by then I was looking out for Thomas who was going to run towards me from Rowardennan. I wanted to make sure I was not walking when he saw me! I also ran out of fluids and was really thirsty. This is the first time this happened, before I always had plenty left and got told off for not drinking enough. I reached the main forest track, had eaten both my gels and was hoping Thomas would get to me soon as he would probably have some water. 3km from the car park he appeared just when I was running a downhill part – brilliant timing! I drank some water and felt better. We finished strongly, passing Karen on her last long run before the Fling. She was on her way to Inversnaid. I arrived back at the car park after 3hrs and 50min. The Oak Tree was far too busy so we headed back home to our favourite Chinese.