September 19: Sophie Gibbens is fifth woman home in the Glencoe Skyline Fell Race

Sophie Gibbens has taken seriously to mountain running in recent years and has come up with some excellent results competing in both the UK mountain scene and in Europe.

As a result she was eligible to compete in the Glencoe Skyline race in Northern Scotland which covers 52km of mountainous territory with a total climb of some 4700m, the latter is the equivalent of ascending Ben Nevis(the highest mountain in the UK) three times inside 12hours!   The Glencoe race is said to be “one of the most technical in the world as the organisers give no assistance on serious scrambling sections.(they would in Europe)”

En route north she competed in a 48km race with 3500m climb in the English Lake District and then training in the Ben Nevis area and The Isle of Skye.

Entrants have to be vetted for their experience/ skills in grades 2 & 3 scrambling especially with exposed terrain.    Sophie set off amongst the field of 118 starters, 49 missed the cut-off time at checkpoint 9 and had to retire. 69 finished with Sophie in 52nd place and 5th woman in 11:45:59.

Full results from Glencoe