Compiled and fact-checked by Tommo, Verus founder · Last verified August 2026 · Spot an error?
Running · Ultra Marathons
Highland Fling Race 2026
- Race day
- Saturday, 29 August 2026
- Location
- Milngavie to Tyndrum, Scotland
- Distance
- 53 mi / 85.3 km
Highland Fling Race: 29 August 2026. Highland Fling 2026: the 53-mile West Highland Way ultra from Milngavie to Tyndrum — date, start waves, checkpoints.
Highland Fling Race Race Timeline
12 days since race day
Highland Fling Race has taken place — check back for results, athlete stories and fundraising totals once they're in, or start planning for next year's edition.
Highland Fling Race 2026: quick answers
When is Highland Fling Race 2026?
Highland Fling Race 2026 takes place on Saturday, 29 August 2026, starting at 06:00 for the main field, with an optional 05:00 early start for runners expecting to take 14 hours or more..
What time does Highland Fling Race start?
Highland Fling Race starts at 06:00 for the main field, with an optional 05:00 early start for runners expecting to take 14 hours or more. from Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way.
Where does Highland Fling Race start and finish?
Highland Fling Race starts at Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way and finishes at Tyndrum, Stirling.
How many miles is Highland Fling Race?
Highland Fling Race is 53 miles (85.3km).
How much elevation gain does Highland Fling Race have?
Highland Fling Race has approximately 7500ft of total elevation gain. No — 7,500ft (2,300m) of ascent against 6,900ft (2,100m) of descent, so it finishes higher than it starts. But gradient is not what makes this race hard. The Loch Lomond shoreline between Rowardennan and Inversnaid is technical, root-bound and relentlessly interrupted, and it comes at exactly the point where runners are trying to settle into a rhythm. Times on that section are consistently far slower than the elevation profile alone suggests.
How much does Highland Fling Race cost to enter?
Entry is through Si Entries. Places are initially allocated by gender — 500 for women and 500 for men, with nonbinary options — which is unusual among British ultras and worth knowing before entry day. You must have completed an ultramarathon, a trail marathon, or a road marathon since 1 January 2024; a road marathon must have been under 5 hours, while any finish time is accepted for a trail marathon or ultra. Entry pricing was not published on the page checked.
How can I track a runner at Highland Fling Race?
Runners are tracked through the seven checkpoints, with splits published by the organiser.
Key Race Metrics & Overview
- Date
- Saturday, 29 August 2026
- Distance
- 53 miles / 85.3km
- Location
- Milngavie to Tyndrum, Scotland
- Start Point
- Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way
- Finish Point
- Tyndrum, Stirling
- Start time
- 06:00 for the main field, with an optional 05:00 early start for runners expecting to take 14 hours or more.
- Elevation gain
- 7500 ft (2286m)
- Surface
- 90% trail, 10% road — from smooth hard-packed path to genuinely technical rock and tree-root terrain along Loch Lomond.
- Cut-off time
- No overall cut-off is stated on the official race information page. The optional 05:00 early start exists for runners expecting to take 14 hours or more, which is the clearest indication of the time the organiser plans around.
- Tracking app
- Runners are tracked through the seven checkpoints, with splits published by the organiser.
Not published by the organiser at the time of writing: age requirement. Verus records these as unconfirmed rather than estimating them — check the official race website closer to race day.
Direct Entry Summary
Entry is through Si Entries. Places are initially allocated by gender — 500 for women and 500 for men, with nonbinary options — which is unusual among British ultras and worth knowing before entry day. You must have completed an ultramarathon, a trail marathon, or a road marathon since 1 January 2024; a road marathon must have been under 5 hours, while any finish time is accepted for a trail marathon or ultra. Entry pricing was not published on the page checked.
Ballot Policy
Not a ballot. Places are allocated on entry through Si Entries, with an initial gender split of 500 places each.
Highland Fling Race Race Day Weather
A real forecast appears here once one exists for race day — usually about a week to ten days out. Nothing is shown until then, because a made-up forecast is worse than none.
Highland Fling Race Route Map & Elevation Profile
Starting at Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way and finishing at Tyndrum, Stirling. 7500 ft of total elevation gain across 53 miles.
Is Highland Fling Race flat?
No — 7,500ft (2,300m) of ascent against 6,900ft (2,100m) of descent, so it finishes higher than it starts. But gradient is not what makes this race hard. The Loch Lomond shoreline between Rowardennan and Inversnaid is technical, root-bound and relentlessly interrupted, and it comes at exactly the point where runners are trying to settle into a rhythm. Times on that section are consistently far slower than the elevation profile alone suggests.
Highland Fling Race Course Profile
7500 ft total elevation gain.
Tap a point on the course for details.
Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way
Start line.
Where Highland Fling Race starts and finishes
Highland Fling Race starts at Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way and finishes at Tyndrum, Stirling. We haven't been able to place those on a map accurately enough to show one — a pin in the wrong place is worse than no pin.
These are the start and finish points, not the route. Verus doesn't hold course files for this race, and drawing a line between two pins would be a guess you might end up training on. The official course map is the one to use: view it on the organiser's site .
Full Highland Fling Race Route Breakdown
The southern 53 miles of the West Highland Way, from its official start in Milngavie to Tyndrum, through the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. The first stretch to Drymen is fast, rolling and hard-packed. From Balmaha the route runs up the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, and the section between Rowardennan and Inversnaid is the one the race is known for: rock, tree roots and constant small steps rather than anything you can settle into. Past Beinglas Farm the country opens out for the long climb through Glen Falloch to the finish at Tyndrum.
Highland Fling Race Pace Calculator & Splits
Highland Fling Race Pace Calculator
Enter a target finish time to see your pace and projected splits.
Average pace / mile
4:32
Average pace / km
2:49
Highland Fling Race Pace Chart
Split markers calculated for standard checkpoints — no official pacers are confirmed for this event.
| Target | Pace /mi | Pace /km | 5K | 10K | Half Marathon | 30K | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | 3:24 | 2:07 | 10:33 | 21:06 | 44:31 | 1:03:19 | 3:00:00 |
| 3:15 | 3:41 | 2:17 | 11:26 | 22:52 | 48:14 | 1:08:35 | 3:15:00 |
| 3:30 | 3:58 | 2:28 | 12:19 | 24:37 | 51:57 | 1:13:52 | 3:30:00 |
| 3:45 | 4:15 | 2:38 | 13:11 | 26:23 | 55:39 | 1:19:08 | 3:45:00 |
| 4:00 | 4:32 | 2:49 | 14:04 | 28:08 | 59:22 | 1:24:25 | 4:00:00 |
| 4:15 | 4:49 | 2:59 | 14:57 | 29:54 | 1:03:04 | 1:29:41 | 4:15:00 |
| 4:30 | 5:06 | 3:10 | 15:50 | 31:39 | 1:06:47 | 1:34:58 | 4:30:00 |
| 4:45 | 5:23 | 3:20 | 16:42 | 33:25 | 1:10:30 | 1:40:14 | 4:45:00 |
| 5:00 | 5:40 | 3:31 | 17:35 | 35:10 | 1:14:12 | 1:45:31 | 5:00:00 |
| 5:30 | 6:14 | 3:52 | 19:21 | 38:41 | 1:21:37 | 1:56:04 | 5:30:00 |
| 6:00 | 6:48 | 4:13 | 21:06 | 42:12 | 1:29:03 | 2:06:37 | 6:00:00 |
| 6:30 | 7:22 | 4:34 | 22:52 | 45:43 | 1:36:28 | 2:17:10 | 6:30:00 |
| 7:00 | 7:55 | 4:55 | 24:37 | 49:14 | 1:43:53 | 2:27:43 | 7:00:00 |
Highland Fling Race Finish Time Estimator
Enter a recent 5K, 10K or Half Marathon time to estimate your Highland Fling Race finish time.
Your 5K time
Estimated Highland Fling Race finish
8:25:36
An estimate only, based on Pete Riegel's race-time prediction formula. Real marathon performance depends on endurance, training specificity, pacing and race-day conditions — not just your speed over a shorter distance.
Training for a different distance? Try the full pace calculator, race time predictor or pace chart.
Got your target time? Save it to your profile.
Tag Highland Fling Race, set your goal pace, and let Verus track your countdown, training and fundraising in one place.
Start Your Verus JourneyHighland Fling Race Race Day Checklist
Tap items to mark off your race-day readiness.
- Trail shoes with real grip — the organiser recommends them explicitly, particularly in the wet, for the Loch Lomond rock and roots
- Drop bags packed and labelled for the three checkpoints that receive them
- Your finish luggage handed in at Milngavie for transport to Tyndrum
- Midge repellent — this is the West Highland Way in late August
- Full waterproofs: the Loch Lomond shore and Glen Falloch are exposed to Atlantic weather
- A pacing plan that treats Rowardennan to Inversnaid as its own event rather than another 7 miles
- Proof of your qualifying race, if requested
Training Strategy for Highland Fling Race
20-24 weeks is the realistic window for a first 53-mile ultra, assuming you already have a marathon's worth of base behind you. The block that matters is back-to-back long weekends — a long run on Saturday followed by a second, slower one on Sunday — which builds time on feet and teaches you to run on tired legs without the recovery cost of one enormous day. Practise your race-day nutrition on every one of them; at this distance the stomach fails before the legs do.
This is a largely flat course, so most of your long runs can mirror that — flat and steady, building time on feet rather than hill strength.
Drop volume hard across the final three to four weeks — further out and steeper than a marathon taper, because a 30-mile training day costs weeks of recovery, not days. Keep some easy running and a little terrain-specific work in, but the goal is to reach Milngavie, on the northern edge of Glasgow — the official start of the West Highland Way with fresh feet and a rested gut rather than one more long run in the bank.
Lock in your target pace using the interactive splits calculator below — no official pacers are confirmed for this event, so a pace band on your watch is the more reliable option.
Test your race-day fuel and hydration plan on your long training runs, not for the first time on race day — check the Race Day Checklist below for what's actually on this course.
53-Mile Ultra Nutrition & Fueling Plan
A modest carbohydrate increase across the last two or three days, and nothing new.
A 06:00 start — or 05:00 if you take the early option — means eating at an uncomfortable hour. Have something you have practised at 03:30 on a training morning rather than discovering on the day that you cannot face it.
Seven checkpoints across 53 miles, with drop bags at three of them, means you can plan precisely — put what you actually want at Balmaha, Rowardennan and Beinglas rather than relying on generic aid-station food. Carry more than you think for the Rowardennan to Inversnaid section, which takes far longer than its 7 miles suggest.
Hot meals are served at Tyndrum, with heated marquees and showers. Eat before you get cold.
Highland Fling Race Charity Places 2026
No formal charity-place scheme is published.
Lead with your personal story — explain why the charity matters to you. Personal connection generates 3x more support than a generic link broadcast.
Share key training milestones on Instagram (first 10-miler, peak week, race week) with your fundraising link in bio. Publicly thanking donors prompts secondary gifts!
Running Highland Fling Race for charity?
Link your JustGiving page to Verus and show up right here alongside other Highland Fling Race fundraisers — goal, progress and story, all in one place.
Add Your Fundraiser to VerusWhere to Stay for Highland Fling Race
Tyndrum / Crianlarich
At the finish, on the West Highland Line, and the place to be when you stop. Small but geared to walkers and runners.
Very limited rooms and 53 miles from the start, so race morning means an early journey south.
Milngavie / Glasgow
Closest to a 06:00 start, with a station at the start line and the full range of Glasgow accommodation a few minutes away by train.
You finish a long way north, so you need the train or a lift back.
Drymen / Balmaha
On the course early, in the national park, and a good base for crew who want to see runners at two checkpoints.
Small villages with limited accommodation, and not convenient for either end of the race.
Travel & Logistics
Milngavie has its own station, a short walk from the start, on the suburban network from Glasgow Queen Street and Central — one of the easiest ultra starts in Britain to reach by train. Tyndrum is served by Upper Tyndrum and Tyndrum Lower stations on the West Highland Line, so the whole race can be done by rail from Glasgow.
No Park & Ride. Luggage is transported from the start to the finish, which is what makes the train option workable.
None — the route follows the West Highland Way.
Spectator & Cheer Guide
Balmaha and Rowardennan are the classic spectator points on the loch shore, both reachable by road and both busy with support. Beinglas Farm catches runners late, and Tyndrum is where the finish atmosphere is.
The road up the west side of Loch Lomond is fast; the east side, where the runners are, is not — Rowardennan is the end of a long dead-end road. Plan on Drymen or Balmaha, then Beinglas or Tyndrum, rather than trying for everything.
Runners are tracked through the seven checkpoints, with splits published by the organiser.
Highland Fling Race Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know for race weekend.
People Also Search For
Similar races
Thames Path Challenge
Fulham, London to Henley-on-Thames
Cotswold Way Century
Chipping Campden to Bath, Gloucestershire, UK
Chiltern Wonderland 50
Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Autumn 100
Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Wendover Woods 50
Aston Hill, Halton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Coast to Kosci
Eden to Charlotte Pass, New South Wales
Race details independently compiled and fact-checked by Tommo against the official Highland Fling Race site , last verified August 2026. Always confirm official timings and policies directly prior to race day.