Fife Pilgrim Way 2026 Race Report by Sue Walker
The inaugural race over the 56 mile/90km Fife Pilgrim Way was organised by Blast Running and held on Saturday 2nd May 2026. For a first event, and a first ultra organised by Blast Running, it was a great success.
The route went from North Queensferry to Dunfermline, through Kingseat and past the walnut whips, through Lochore Meadows, Kennoway, Glenrothes, Markinch to Ceres and then finally finished at the Cathedral in St Andrews. There were checkpoints at the Abbey in Dunfermline and then at Lochore, Markinch, Kennoway and Ceres with the option of drop bags at Lochore, Markinch and Ceres. Finish bags were taken to St Andrews and there was the opportunity to get a shuttle minibus back from St Andrews to North Queensferry.
Although a similar length to both the Highland Fling and the Glasgow to Edinburgh ultras, at 1,200m total ascent, the route was considerably hillier than the G2E (total ascent 231m) but much less hilly than the Fling, (total ascent 2,300m). The Fling has about 10% tarmac/90% trail, G2E has around 20% tarmac/80% trail and the Fife Pilgrims’ Way is 33% tarmac/67% trail.
There were 5 harriers toeing the start line, Nils, Clara, Sue, Emma and Gillian and all of them made it to the finish, on what turned out to be a surprisingly warm day. In addition to the 5 harriers, there were many other familiar faces running and supporting along the way.
After a race briefing at the Doubletreee Hilton Hotel (nice race toilets!), the Fife Pilgrim Way pastor spoke about pilgrimage to St Andrews. The race started on the road outside the hotel at 6am, (we were asked to be quiet) and 120 runners ran through North Queensferry to the start of the coastal path.
It felt like a very sociable and friendly race both with runners and also with friends and club members out on support. Ken and Pauline were both at Pattiesmuir to meet and take photos of runners and Pauline helpfully held the gate open too. Fiona was at the Abbey taking photos and Jen and Karl were on marshal duty. Niall and Heather were in Kingseat, I saw Sarah W at Blair Adam and Kenny and Kathryn appeared bearing sweeties near Kinglassie.
Photos above from Fiona Rennie
The front runners in the race were fast enough to run alongside runners in the Riverside parkrun in Glenrothes. For those of us further back in the field, the Lochore parkrunners ran towards us as they circled the loch and it was good to spot Graeme S along with many other friendly faces.
The Fife Pilgrim Way is a very scenic route running through central Fife to reach St Andrews. Blast Running organised a couple of route recces and as the Way is well marked, it’s easy to organise your own recces and use public transport to get back to your starting point. The route is very runnable with hardly any tricky technical bits (I still managed to trip and fall on a straightforward farm track though!). Most runners looked to be wearing trail shoes but provided the weather beforehand had been dry, road shoes would have been absolutely fine. The organisers posted some extra signs where they felt signposting wasn’t clear and there were marshals at key turning points and road crossings. There were a few steep hills on the course with big climbs out of Kinglassie and at Drumcarrow just past Ceres at 50 miles in. All in all, not too hilly at all.
Photos above from Kathryn Fairfield
In terms of value for money, all the entrants received a 5L running backpack and a soft cotton T shirt at the start, a wooden medal and leather coaster at the finish, well stocked check points, hot drinks, chocolate milk and lasagne at the finish – and Fishers and Donaldson fudge donuts! – as well as minibus transport back to North Queensferry from St Andrews. The 2027 race is already open (race day is 1/5/2027) with an early bird entry discount until 1st September 2026. (Enter here.)
I’d heartily recommend this ultra, staged in our own glorious Kingdom of Fife.
Nils finished well up the field in 10:40 with Clara and Sue finishing close together around 13 hours. Emma ran a very controlled race in just over 14 hours and Gillian judged her pace perfectly to finish in 15 hours.