70 Wild Miles; A charity triathlon in aid of CLIC Sargent

Caring for Children with Cancer.

14^th June 2003

The fifteenth event was one of the best yet ! Lovely weather and lovely competitors! But I'll let the Boss give the proper report:-

Hello Everyone!

Hope all your aches and pains from either taking part or helping out with 70 Wild Miles 2003 have gone. We were all fortunate enough to enjoy lovely weather throughout the day and these good conditions allowed the solo course record (5hrs and 2 mins) to be smashed by Calum Urquhart from Inverness in a time of 4hrs and 52 mins, fantastic effort Calum! Twice a previous winner, Simon Patton was a close second in a time of 5hrs and 06 mins and Brian Moore, another regular competitor, achieved his best placing to date, being third in a time of 5hrs and 09 mins.
The solo female race was won by Gill Irvine who on her first attempt at this event managed a very impressive 5hrs and 46 mins. 

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Christy McKee, an American Girl based in London, suffered a very nasty fall at the start of the cycle section. We are happy to say that Christy is expected to make a full recovery from her injuries. As organisers of this event we were deeply saddened to see anyone get injured. It happens very rarely, however, it does serve to remind us that there is potential for injury during this course and we must take all precautions to avoid anyone being hurt. I'm sure everyone would join us in wishing Christy a full and speedy recovery.
For the most part, the conditions were good throughout the course, warm sunshine to recover from the cycle at Taynuilt. We had more or less flat calm water through Loch Etive with the exception of a few miles of slightly choppier water in the midway point, some found the run a wee bit on the hot side, however, this made for a pleasant time with the helpers! (There is always a plus side!). The junior race was run again this year with around 15 young people taking part, some of the youngsters came from Tomermory on Mull to take part. All seemed to have a good time and like the main event, enjoyed fine weather throughout. 

Solo Results

Relay Results

On Saturday 27th. September, 2003 a cheque for £59,000 was handed over to Cancer Research UK.

There were the usual festivities at the Glencoe Hotel in the evening. What was supposed to be a. band of four people from Inverness playing in the lounge bar turned out to be about 15 musicians! (The more the merrier!) They were also joined by Craig Robertson (the piping competitor) for a couple of numbers.
 Upstairs in the main hall, for the benefit of the younger crowd, "Few Dollars Short" from Edinburgh played for a blistering 30 mins. They were followed by "The Jack Daniels Experience" from Stirling who played until 1 am and as usual, the lads set the place alight! They were also joined by Craig, (the now very "tired" piping competitor!) who rounded the night off nicely.

From an organisers point of view, we have been extremely fortunate once again to have had so many fine people turning up to help run this event. As has been said many times before, there are more people helping out than those competing and this year we had 114 competitors! It never fails to amaze us, the amount of people offering their support year after year. The helpers not only make the event possible, they help make it easier for us to organise. We can't thank you all enough!

This event managed to raise £44,000 for Cancer Research UK last year. Based on the sponsorship expectations the competitors made at point of entry for 2003, we are ever hopeful that we may exceed this figure and continue the upward trend. Can all competitors please forward your sponsorship money as soon as you possibly can to the contact below?
We have set a date for presenting all monies raised from 2003 to a representative from Cancer Research UK at The Cramond Boat Club in Edinburgh on 27th Sept. at 8pm, you are very warmly invited to come along if you are free. 

Many thanks once again to everyone involved with any aspect of 70 Wild Miles, we hope you had a good time and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Our very best regards
Brian, Ray, Gordon, John
(Event Organisers)