Race Across Scotland Winner: Scott Brown

Scotland has seen its fair share of ultras. The high inclines and beautiful scenery make it a runner’s dream. Each year it hosts one of the longest races in the UK: Race Across Scotland. A remarkable 215 mile (346 km) coast to coast ultra marathon which spans the Southern Upland Way. 2022 saw the course record knocked down to 58:07:55 by Scotsman Scott Brown.  

Well done for winning Race Across Scotland…

It was so cool even just to take part. It was my biggest race so far in one go without any stops, so it was always going to be a challenge. That weekend it was really warm, so because of that I put records to the back of my mind. But it turns out that I got the course record in over a couple of hours. Now I’m  just trying to take it all in and I’m really chuffed. 

Dealing with the high temperatures over the weekend…

I was quite lucky in a sense that I did the Dragon’s Back race last year and it was severely hot. I feel like every time I go to a race I get a hot weekend, I can cope with wind or rain. But the experience of different races has helped me. I knew when it was early I could get moving and bank in some miles. A lot of people saw me set off quite fast, but it wasn’t in full heat in the morning so I thought I could slow down a bit later on when it was baking hot. From there it just came together. 

“You were so exposed, there were parts where you were running 20/30 miles without any support between checkpoints. You need to make sure as soon as you leave the checkpoint you’ve got enough water and fuel to get to the next one.” 

I was carrying a lot of water. My wife laughs and says I’m mad because I’m always carrying the heaviest backpack. Carrying extra kit isn’t an issue, but I just don’t want to be running out of water in weather like that. I was carrying 3 litres which is a lot of water and then my other items like my food and my mandatory kit. The backpack feels a bit heavy when you first put it on, but you get used to it. It’s better to have the kit than not have it.