The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Killingbeck reruns history of big race with live podcast
● Champion weighs up impact of lockdown on goals as a runner
One year ago this month Siobhan Killingbeck made the Scottish ultra distance running world sit up and take notice by producing a stunning performance to win the women’s division of the West Highland Way race.
The Aberdeen athlete covered the challenging 95-mile route between Milngavie and Fort William, which includes 14,760ft of climbing, in 17:41:09.
It’s the third quickest time recorded by a woman in the 35-year history of the event, and, on the day, only five men in the capacity field of 265 ran faster.
This year’s race has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic but
Killingbeck will still be involved, albeit in a much less physically demanding role, as she is to contribute to a live podcast to celebrate the history of the run.
Killingbeck is a geophysicist and glaciologist. She recently completed her PhD and is in the early stages of a research project investigating a glacial lake in the Canadian Arctic.
She said: “Even if the WHW race had been on, I wasn’t planning to run as I expected to be in Canada at the time.
“I was meant to leave Scotland on the very day lockdown started, so I couldn’t go.
“I’ve been staying with my husband James in Gairloch where my family has a house. We were here when lockdown began, so stayed where we were.
“I was doing a lot of running at the beginning of the year. But with all events being cancelled, I’ve been much more relaxed about training.
“I completed my PhD work at the end of February and I was fairly tired so I needed a break in any case.
“Since then I’ve been running purely for enjoyment without having to think about any races. There are so many great trails and quiet roads on our doorstep.
“One day I went out and ran a full marathon on a series of new routes I’d never been on before. That was so cool.”
West Highland Way race organisers are putting on a virtual version of the race but while she fully supports the concept, Killingbeck isn’t tempted to take part.
She said: “It’s a really great idea and gives runners who were maybe preparing for the race an alternative goal.
“If all of this had happened last year when I was getting ready for the WHW I might have done the virtual race. But I’m not really ready to do anything like that at the moment.”
She does, however, have a few personal running goals for later in the year in the Gairloch area before eventually heading for Canada.
She said: “One target we have is to run a loop of the Torridon Giants.
“It’s a run over Beinn Allign, Liathach, Beinn Eighe and Beinn Dearg and should take anything from 12-14 hours.”