The Scottish Islands Peaks Race is entirely volunteer run, and not-for-profit.
Our current organising team consists of:
Sarah Macdonald has been part of the SIPR team since she was 3 years old and sleeping under the kit check table; now she can be found at the kit check table making sure all your gear is in order. During the race Sarah is the Oban team leader, and you’ll also find her on Mull and at Troon taking your times, and answering questions and posting on social media. Throughout the rest of the year Sarah deals with the skippers entries and the awards dinner and ceilidh, which she has also been expertly emceeing of late.
Toben Lewis got roped onto the SIPR team nearly a decade ago when it became apparent he could stumble his way through building a website. He’s now responsible for the maintenance of our site, deals with both the social media and the skippers entries, designs the yearly merchandise, and organises the awards dinner and ceilidh. He’s the Troon team leader, and you’ll also see him on Mull and at Oban reg (usually cursing at trackers or timing spreadsheets).
Running and Sailing subcommittees
The subcommittees are made up of current and past competitors, with varying levels of experience and class participation. We are very grateful for their input into the race rules, equipment, and operation, and experience.
Sailing subcommittee
Roderick Aitken
Iain Baird
Kenny Byars
Colin Craig
Andy Hadfield
Trevor Harrison
Iain Loudon
Alastair Pugh (chair)
Alan Rankin
Running subcommittee
Gus Bowman
Sasha Chepelin
John Coyle
Sam Griffiths
Claire Gordon
James Nicholson (chair)
Jill Stephen
SIPR 2024 race weekend team leaders
Oban – Sarah Macdonald
Mull – Declan Valters
Jura – John Quinn
Arran –Eoin Lennon
Troon – Toben Lewis
SIPR archivist
Alison Macdonald was part of the SIPR organising team for almost as long as the race had been going, until she stepped back in 2025. She’s still around, though, combining her love of history and research with her fondness for the race. Keep an eye out for an update on race records as she gets stuck into those; then she plans to start putting together a proper archive of the race and stories.