Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Earlier this morning, 37-year-old Scotland local Kerry MacPhee became the first woman (and sixth overall rider) to finish the 2024 Highland Trail 550 (HT550) event, finishing the rugged 550-mile route in just 3 days, 23 hours, and 18 minutes. Joergen Trepp was at the finish line to capture photos and hear about her ride. Learn more here…
Words and photos Joergen Trepp, riding photos by Neil Henderson
Scottish rider Kerry MacPhee took the women’s win in her first ultra-race at the 2024 Highland Trail 550 (HT550), making her way across the line of the wet and challenging 550-mile (885-kilometer) route through the Scottish Highlands. MacPhee crossed the finish line in an impressive 3 days, 23 hours, and 18 minutes, narrowly achieving her goal of completing the race in under four days. Though Lee Craigie holds on to the women’s Fastest Known Time (FKT) for a similar course with a blistering 2018 time of 3 days, 20 hours and 53 minutes, the HT550 varies drastically from year to year due to infrastructure changes and fluctuating weather conditions.
MacPhee not only secured the win in the women’s field but also placed sixth overall, demonstrating her endurance and skills riding technical singletrack and descending off of the rocky mountains in the north. Throughout the race, she exchanged positions with other races, such as Niall Shannon, Max Riese, and Marcus Nicholson.
Hailing from the Outer Hebrides and now residing in Stirling, close to the race’s start in Tyndrum, MacPhee’s local roots run deep. Her background in cross-country mountain bike racing, including competing in the Commonwealth Games—even in the same year as Lee Craigie—provided her with an advantage on the technically demanding HT550 course.
No ultra-race is without its setbacks, and MacPhee faced her fair share. She suffered a rolled ankle in the Fisherfields, where extreme weather also left her soaked to the core and dangerously cold. Despite considering scratching, she found temporary refuge off Fisherfields, nearer to sea level, drying off in a toilet before pressing on. Later, a pedal accident caused a significant ankle injury that she had to nurse to the finish line, even when hiking over water bars and other obstacles became painfully slow.
MacPhee’s journey was not without equipment challenges, either. She lost a bolt from her cleat and, without the necessary Allen wrenches, had to pedal and hike the Leadmore Traverse with one cleat. She then bought the biggest multi-tool she could find at a hardware store to fix the problem. Additionally, she purchased olive oil at the Drumbeg Store as a makeshift chain lube after forgetting her own. In addition to her on-bike adventures, Kerry is deeply involved in the cycling community and environmental advocacy. She works in renewables and event organizing in Scotland and runs three cycling-related non-profits: Dirt Divas MTB and Gravel, Adaptive Riders Collective, and Bike Trossachs.
Despite this being her first ultra race, MacPhee is no stranger to endurance challenges, having completed the Badger Divide and other FKTs. Her achievement at the Highland Trail 550 shows Kerry’s resourcefulness and focus to race and ride these routes. It’s exciting to wonder where Kerry will show up next.
With the first finishers across the line and their feet drying, the race rages on with battles for second, third, and fourth place in the women’s field, with all racers trying to keep the wheels on the wagon and reach the finish line in Tyndrum. Follow their progress live here.
About Joergen Trepp
Joergen has bounced around the bike industry writing and wrenching on the road and in the workshop. Having come in contact with bike touring early on, the idea of a bike as not only a designed object but as a means to an end sparked a love for going far, sometimes fast, often offroad. Find him on Instagram.
Further Reading
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