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:

1. Why the “big moments” are only a small part of the race
2. What it really feels like during the long, uneventful stretches
3. How your mind starts to drift when there’s nothing to react to
4. The trap of overthinking when everything is actually going well
5. What I’ve seen while crewing at the race, especially as the field spreads out
6. Why training needs to include boredom, not just intensity
7. 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:

1. Training for the West Highland Way Race
2. Struggling with long, uneventful runs
3. Finding your mind drifting during training or racing
4. 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.

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.

🔗 WHW Race Pod

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.

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:

1. Why sixteen weeks is a dangerous but powerful phase
2. The difference between imperfection and drift
3. What strong preparation actually looks like in the data
4. How four-week training blocks should layer and absorb
5. Aerobic density and why steady matters more than sharp
6. Climbing economy and durability specific to WHW
7. Long run progression without dramatic spikes
8. Back-to-back fatigue exposure
9. Fuel rehearsal before it becomes urgent
10. 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

1. Structure versus drift
2. Training blocks and progression
3. Aerobic density and sustained effort
4. Climbing strength and composure
5. Fatigue exposure and durability
6. Nutrition rehearsal
7. Discomfort as skill
8. Identity, readiness, and quiet belief

Listen If

1. You’re sixteen weeks out from WHW
2. You feel slightly unsettled about your preparation
3. Your training looks consistent but lacks edge
4. You want clarity on how to structure the next four months
5. 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

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:

1. Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
2. WhatsApp: +447418609498
3. Or message on Instagram:
4. @pyllon

Some of the most powerful stories are the ones people almost don’t send.

Race Links

West Highland Way Race

https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

Instagram

@whw_race

About the Host

Paul is an ultrarunner, coach, and creator. He is a three-time winner of the West Highland Way Race and a former course record holder.

Paul is the founder of Pyllon – a coaching collective and creative project built around endurance, curiosity, and the long view.

You can find more of Paul’s work here:

Website

https://pyllonultra.com

Instagram

@pyllon

@pyllonultra

YouTube

https://youtube.com/pyllon

Substack

https://pyllon.substack.com

About the WHW Race Pod

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.

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:

1. How she was “strong-armed” into entering the race after running the Highland Fling
2. The simplicity of her preparation, and the discipline behind it
3. Realising halfway through the race that she was leading
4. The moment the course record became a possibility
5. Bonking at Cramond Cottage and bouncing back
6. 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 Themes

1. Simplicity versus modern complexity in training
2. Grassroots ultrarunning in Scotland in the 2000s
3. Running to feel rather than to pace
4. Identity beyond performance
5. Comparison as “the thief of joy”
6. The changing culture of the sport
7. Pride without ego

Listen If

1. You’re lining up for WHW this year
2. You’re curious about the history of the race
3. You’re navigating your own relationship with performance and identity
4. 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:

1. Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
2. WhatsApp: +447418609498
3. Or message on Instagram:
4. @pyllon

Some of the most powerful stories are the ones people almost don’t send.

Race Links

West Highland Way Race

https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

Instagram

@whw_race

About the Host

Paul is an ultrarunner, coach, and filmmaker. He is a three-time winner of the West Highland Way Race and a former course record holder.

Paul is the founder of Pyllon – a coaching collective and creative project built around endurance, curiosity, and the long view.

You can find more of Paul’s work here:

Website

https://pyllonultra.com

Instagram

@pyllon

@pyllonultra

YouTube

https://youtube.com/pyllon

Substack

https://pyllon.substack.com

About the WHW Race Pod

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.

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:

1. The moment when training goes quiet and belief starts to wobble
2. Why belief can’t be faked, and why this phase of training matters
3. How doubt and discomfort are not problems to solve, but part of the work
4. What athletes often think they’re training for, and what they’re actually preparing for
5. 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:

1. Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
2. WhatsApp: +44 7418 609498
3. Or message on Instagram:
4. @whw_race

Some of the most powerful stories are the ones people almost don’t send.

Race Links

West Highland Way Race

https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

Instagram

@whw_race

About the Host

Paul is an ultrarunner, coach, and filmmaker. He is a three-time winner of the West Highland Way Race and a former course record holder.

Paul is the founder of Pyllon – a coaching collective and creative project built around endurance, curiosity, and the long view.

You can find more of Paul’s work here:

Website

https://pyllonultra.com

Instagram

@pyllon

@pyllonultra

YouTube

https://youtube.com/pyllon

Substack

https://pyllon.substack.com

About the WHW Race Pod

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.

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:

1. Why the West Highland Way doesn’t need spectacle to be meaningful
2. How the route slowly reveals how you’re really doing
3. The kind of runners the race tends to attract, and why so many return
4. Why times and placings only ever tell a small part of the story
5. 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:

1. Send a WhatsApp voice note or message to:
2. WhatsApp: +44 7418 609498
3. Or message on Instagram:
4. @whw_race

Some of the most powerful stories are the ones people almost don’t send.

Race Links

West Highland Way Race

https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

Instagram

@whw_race

About the Host

Paul is an ultrarunner, coach, and filmmaker. He is a three-time winner of the West Highland Way Race and a former course record holder.

Paul is the founder of Pyllon - a coaching collective and creative project built around endurance, curiosity, and the long view.

You can find more of Paul’s work here:

Website

https://pyllonultra.com

Instagram

@pyllon

@pyllonultra

YouTube

https://youtube.com/pyllon

Substack

https://pyllon.substack.com

About the WHW Race Pod

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.

In this episode of the WHW Race Pod, Paul sits down with Gus Irvine, winner of the 2025 West Highland Way Race.

Gus ran a controlled, composed race from Milngavie to Fort William, taking the win through patience, preparation, and trust in his process. But this conversation is not about how he won. It is about how the race sits with him now.

Paul and Gus have spoken before, but this episode looks at what has shifted since the finish line. They explore Gus’s relationship with the West Highland Way, how familiarity changes the experience of the trail, and why winning did not bring closure, but instead sparked a desire to return.

Gus reflects on the demands the race placed on him this time, the moments that tested his composure, and what it means to run with the trail rather than against it. He also talks openly about expectation, restraint, and the quiet satisfaction that settled slowly in the weeks after the race.

The conversation closes by looking ahead to 2026, and why some races continue to call us back, even when we think we already know them.

This is a thoughtful episode about return, responsibility, and the deepening relationship between runner and trail.

In this episode, we talk about:

1. Winning the 2025 West Highland Way Race
2. Gus’s relationship with the WHW and how it has evolved
3. Running with composure and restraint
4. Managing pressure and expectation during long races
5. The moments that mattered most during the race
6. What stayed with Gus after the finish
7. Why the West Highland Way still feels unfinished
8. Looking ahead to a return in 2026

About the podcast

The WHW Race Pod is the official podcast of the West Highland Way Race.

Hosted by Paul Giblin, the podcast explores the lived experience of the race through conversations with runners, organisers, and people connected to the trail.

This is not a race recap show.

It is a place for reflection, memory, and storytelling from one of the most iconic long distance trails in Scotland.

Race links

West Highland Way Race

https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

Instagram

@whw_race

About the host

Paul is an ultrarunner, coach, and filmmaker. He is a three time winner of the West Highland Way Race and former course record holder. Paul is the founder of Pyllon, a coaching collective and creative project built around endurance, curiosity, and the long view.

You can find more of Paul’s work here:

Website

https://pyllonultra.com

Instagram

@pyllon

@pyllonultra

YouTube

https://youtube.com/pyllon

Substack

https://pyllon.substack.com

Rebecca ran from Milngavie to Fort William in 19:02:14, finishing first woman and sixth overall. But this conversation is not about splits or results. It is about how the race felt, how she approached it, and what stayed with her long after the finish line.

Rebecca reflects on her journey into ultra running, beginning during the COVID years in Northern Ireland, and how curiosity gradually turned into commitment. She talks about a remarkable run of races this year, including her win at the Witiker Backyard Ultra, and how those experiences shaped her mindset heading into the West Highland Way.

Together, Paul and Rebecca explore the inner moments of the race. The early doubts. The quiet sections of trail. The pressure that arrived later than expected. The importance of staying in her own race and listening to herself when it mattered most.

They also talk about memorable sections of the West Highland Way, the role of crew and community, and why this race, despite not playing to all her strengths, left a lasting mark.

This is a reflective conversation about patience, confidence, and learning not to write yourself off too early.

In this episode, we talk about:

1. Rebecca’s journey into ultra running and endurance sport
2. Winning the West Highland Way Race in 2025
3. Running without expectation and staying present in long races
4. Memorable moments and hardest sections of the trail
5. The importance of crew, community, and calm decision making
6. How the race changed how Rebecca views herself as a runner
7. Advice for those standing on the WHW start line for the first time

About the podcast

The WHW Race Pod is the official podcast of the West Highland Way Race.

Hosted by Paul, the podcast explores the lived experience of the race through conversations with runners, organisers, and people connected to the trail.

This is not a race recap show.

It is a place for reflection, memory, and storytelling from one of the most iconic long distance trails in Scotland.

Race links

West Highland Way Race

https://westhighlandwayrace.org/

Instagram

@whw_race

About the host

Paul is an ultrarunner, coach, and creator. He is a three time winner of the West Highland Way Race and former course record holder. Paul is the founder of Pyllon, a coaching collective and creative project built around endurance, curiosity, and the long view.

You can find more of Paul’s work here:

Website

https://pyllonultra.com

Instagram

@pyllon

@pyllonultra

YouTube

https://youtube.com/pyllon

Substack

https://pyllon.substack.com

They discuss the response to this year’s ballot, race preparation, and the emotional weight of stepping into the role after Ian Beattie’s long and respected tenure. Adrian shares personal stories from the trail, moments of unexpected kindness, and why keeping the race grounded in community still matters most.

Together, they honour the traditions of the WHW, including the final goblet ceremony, the history of the trail itself, and the legacy of John Kynaston whose voice also features in this episode.

If you’ve ever run the WHW, dreamed about it, or simply felt its pull, this is where the journey begins again.

For race info, visit westhighlandwayrace.org

Follow @whw_race on Instagram

Host: Paul Giblin

Founder of Pyllon and three-time WHW Race winner

pyllon.substack.com

youtube.com/pyllon

Instagram: @pyllon