2025 Race Report

Well, that's a wrap on another Jura fell race. After three years we've more or less got the hang of things now, so everything went quite smoothly from our perspective.

After weeks and weeks of sunshine, this year's race took place on a day that started out damp and grey. Whilst the worst of the rain came over night (sorry campers), visibility was pretty poor during the race, particularly in the morning. The first climb up into the clag must have been daunting. Fortunately no one got catastrophically lost, and the weather improved in the afternoon, when the final summits became visible from Craighouse. For the third year in a row we were able to award prizes outside, cheering the last few runners across the finish line.

Rocks. (c) Peter Reilly

The weather had closed in following a fairly clear start to the day, and the Paps were shrouded in clag - down in Craighouse we were really feeling for the marshals and runners on the hill. A few hours into the race we heard the bad news about an injured runner, followed by a second – both having connected head with rock. Things got a bit hectic for a while, but fortunately both runners received the medical attention they needed and are OK - thanks in no small part to the actions of other runners out on the course who came to their aid. Off the hill, particular thanks are due to Andrew Fulwood who picked Jack up from the QE hospital in Glasgow and put him up for a night, and to Jill Darroch who helped us get James treated on Jura, avoiding an overnight stranding on Islay.

Turnout was a bit lower than last year, with 237 on the starting line. Of 224 finishers, 60 were women (27%), compared to 30% last year, 29% in 2023 and 23% in 2022.

We’re pleased with how the early start is working – as far as we know, no one fell foul of the check point cut-offs this year, and the early start means the later checkpoint teams can get off the hill a bit earlier.

Some highlights from 2025:

Finlay Wild (Lochaber AC) won the race in 03:07:16, knocking 2 minutes off Billy Bland's (1988!) MV40 record.
First-timer and U23 runner Lex Whitaker (Ambleside AC) won the women's race in 04:10:42.
Dave Ward (Pennine Fell Runners) and Tom Westgate (Dark Peak Fell Runners) were awarded the George Broderick Plaque on completion of 21 Isle of Jura Fell Races each, whilst Albert Sunter (Winter Hill Runners) ran his 34th race.
Lizzie Wastnedge (Hunters Bog Trotters) was awarded the John Dare Shield for completion of both the Scottish Island Peaks Race and the Isle of Jura Fell Race.
Wiebke Lammers (Westerlands Cross Country Club) was awarded the John Hewit Cup for a notable first-time performance.
Ambleside (Lex Whitaker, Bryony Halcrow, Georgie Stevens) won the women’s team prize (Westies 2nd, Dark Peak 3rd). Carnethy dominated the men’s field, winning not only first team prize (Felix Wilson, Kieran Cooper, Aidan Smith) but also 4th and 6th (Lochaber 2nd, Highland 3rd).

Finlay Wild approaches the finish line. (c) Louise Preston

Organising this race is a big effort, but the day itself is made much easier by the awesome support provided by Glasgow & Clyde RAYNET, Oban and Arrochar Mountain Rescue Teams, Martin Stone (SPORTident), all the volunteer marshals and helpers, the Jura community and our race sponsors.

This year we're particularly grateful to everyone who pulled together to help an injured runner off Aonach Bheinn, including Oban and Arrochar Mountain Rescue Teams, the crew of Coastguard helicopter R199, Ross Rozga, and the marshals and runners who were so quick to assist.