History

We started in 1994 with the first Efamol Western Isles Challenge. Efamol were the main event sponsors and their local subsidiary company was Callanish Ltd based at Breasclete in Lewis. They were looking for a local team to enter the race and were prepared to put a lot of sponsorship into it. The local contact (Chris Corden of Callanish Ltd) approached Tony Robson and asked him if he could put a team together. None of us had any experience of off-road running or road biking but we decided to give it a bash. Tony, Murdie, Anne and myself became Team Efamol.

We may not have been the best prepared but we were certainly the best sponsored! We had a camper van and driver plus a minivan and driver at our disposal. We were also given all the gear we needed for the event. We rewarded them by being the second team to reach the Butt of Lewis and finishing eighth overall.

The same team and sponsorhip were arranged for the following year, but Anne's daughter was in a road accident and Anne had to drop out - Derek substituted at short notice and we finished the race in seventh position.

The following year we lost our sponsorship with Efamol - because they were no longer associated with the race. We had some help from Mackinnon Self-Drive and D R Macleod hauliers but we had to pay our way for the first time! We also lost Tony and Derek, I took over as team captain and tried to think of a new name. When I heard that Murdie had canoed to the tiny island of Sula Sgeir (about forty miles north of the Butt of Lewis), I thought this epic trip seemed worth commemorating and I chose the name Sula Sgeir for the team. This island has a huge population of gannets - the name means Gannet Rock in gaelic - and the young birds are a local delicacy in Ness! Murdie and I were joined by Dougie and Graham and we improved again to finish fifth.

The next race (in 1998) saw Murdie and I with another two new team mates - Graham and Shirley. We took everyone by surprise and in the closest race in adventure racing history (four teams were within eight minutes after nearly forty hours of racing!) we won by two minutes from a dead heat for second place. The Scottish Cooperative Society were our main sponsors with Mackinnon Self-Drive again providing a vehicle for us.

We tried to defend our title in 1999 with the same team and the same sponsors but two serious injuries cost us a lot of time and we had to substitute our backup man Ian into the team. We did well to finish the race at all never mind being the first veteran and first local team home. Severe personality clashes for the second year in a row meant that there was no way this team would be competing again!

Year 2000 saw us enter again courtesy of sponsorshp by the Coop and a vehicle from Mackinnon Self-Drive. We had an entirely local team and our firm intention was to put fun back into the race after two years of torture! Murdie and I were joined by Donald and Janet with Graham as backup. We had a great time and finished sixth overall, we were also first veterans and first locals again.

The local prize for 1999 and 2000 saw Sula Sgeir go international! We had won expenses paid trips (courtesy of Leader) to the Pindos Crossing adventure race in Greece. Graham and I teamed up with two Greeks in 2000 and finished in a stunning second place. In 2001, Donald and I went to Greece, the new format required us both to complete the entire 280km course over the three days. In temperatures in excess of 40 degrees we did well to finish in 9th place.

2001 saw the race change from the Western Isles Challenge to the Hebridean Challenge after a break away group decided to run a new adventure race under community control. We entered with the same team, same sponsors and same intention of enjoying ourselves. This we did despite the loss of Graham in a MTB accident on the second day. We completed the event in sixth place, we were the first Veteran team and the first local team.

The 2002 race saw us complete the race with a new team member - Jim Galbraith - after Graham Meeks retired from adventure racing. We won the veterans prize for the fifth year running and were again the only local team in the race.

We have entered the 2003 race with yet another new team - Janet has dropped out due to work commitments and Helen Copeland replace her.

Full details of many of these races can be found by following the links at the top of the page.