Pawel Cymbalista has set a new record time of 19 hours, 30 minutes and 9 seconds to complete the 154km West Highland Way supported and in winter. He ran the route from Milngavie to Fort William, which includes 4200m of elevation, faster than Andy Campbell, who a previous supported winter FKT last year in 19:54.
It’s the 37-year-old runner’s third completion of the WHW. He ran a summer unsupported record of 17:57:35 in 2022 and he finished fourth overall during the West Highland Way Race.
Winter run of West Highland Way
Pawel, of Mallaig, faced very chilly temperatures for his latest feat. He said: “Although the weather was kind to me most of the time, I had a couple of snow showers and, towards the end, the wind started to pick up and increased the wind chill. The temperature was around 0-2°C but the wind was going right through my body and making it feel much colder.
“It was a very long day on a cold trail and it was hard to keep warm. If I stopped for longer than five minutes at the checkpoints, I could not control my shivering so I had to keep going.
“There was also ice and frozen rocks on higher ground and that required constant focus. There was a lot to think about because of the cold, some difficult terrain and also making sure I was eating and drinking.”
Pawel said the toughest section of the trail was the last 11km along the shore of Loch Lomond, from Inversnaid to Beinglas . He said: “The terrain is very technical and I couldn’t find a good rhythm because of that. It was very frustrating and I found myself loosing focus.
“Thankfully, the next section was more runnable and I was able to regain my composure and get my faith back.”
Pawel, who often runs his long-distance challenges solo, revealed he enjoyed the company of his support team. He said: “My team worked very hard to keep my spirits up. We chatted, shared stories and enjoyed our time out on the trails.”
A testing final section
Another very difficult time came later in the challenge when he rolled his right ankle on a rock. Pawel said: “This incident twisted my body and put a lot of pressure on my right hamstring and lower back. It caused a lot of discomfort and unusual pain.
“I did manage to snap out of it and I kept moving but I noticed that my body started slightly twisting towards the right side and my right hamstring was tensing up and slowing me down.
“I had 16km to go to reach Fort William ands I had to grind it out. I was very focused on my body and trying to keep everything aligned so I would not cause more damage.
“I was also chasing the clock as well. I knew I could grab the record if I just kept pushing it. It was a real fight and I was happy to make it. It was also thanks to my support team, who never gave up on me and pushed me to the end.”
More highlights on the WHW
Pawel reveals that as well as setting a new record, he enjoyed some other good times during the West Highland Way winter run. He said: “I managed to run many sections of the WHW in my own record time. This included running from Milngavie to Inverarnan, then Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe Mountain Resort and then to Kinlochleven. These sections were absolutely amazing.
“The darkness also plays a big part in a winter long-distance running and you have to be comfortable with that. Thankfully, I have no issues in running in the dark – and I felt good.”
Pawel had planned to run the WHW and then the Great Glen Way in one go. This would have been a total of 273km and 6500m of elevation. However, the whole adventure didn’t come together>
He said: “I will need to save the bigger challenge for another time but I am still proud that I wrote a part of history by setting a new winter supported West Highland Way record. And it wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for my amazing team.”
Pawel thanked his team, including his brother-in-law Ryan, Scott Brown from SBF Irvine, his wife Ashley, Monty, Ben Miller, Ruairdh Oliver-Jones from Lochaber AC, Stuart Malcolm and Manny Gorman from the Westies, and Coalin Finn.