Amazing 26-caber toss at Grantown East finally formalised by Book of Records

So it is finally official: Strathspey does boast a world record caber tosser.

Athlete extraordinaire Andrew Murphie received the formal accreditation earlier this week after his summer’s heroics.

The World Records management team told him: “We are thrilled to inform you that your application for most caber tosses in three minutes has been successful and you are now the Guinness World Records title holder - congratulations, you are officially amazing!”

The celebrations which had been on ice since the attempt at the former Grantown East site finally got going as Andrew and some of his stalwart support team returned to the scene of their triumph for the Strathy.

Proudly displaying his Guinness certificate, Andrew was flanked by Theo Pilkington and Stuart Boon.

“It has taken a little while,” he said, “because we had to provide a lot of evidence.

“The records management team had to have photographs, videos, expert witness statements and so on if my achievement was to be absolutely official.”

To achieve his place in history Andrew had to toss more than 16 full-sized cabers - that’s 16ft 6in tall, weighing in a 88lbs each - inside three minutes. But he did much better than that… he tossed a whopping 26 of them.

The heavy athlete said: “It was well worth the wait for all the paperwork. It’s really great to have confirmation from Guinness and to be the record holder.”

For the 18-year-old Highland games prodigy the award was just the icing on the cake.

“2024 was a great year,” he celebrated. “As well as getting the record, I've competed in 25 games across the country, coming second in the Glenfiddich under-27s league for the year and I set two new ground records at the Abernethy games.

“My favourite venues are probably Tomintoul, Nethy Bridge and Blair Atholl, just for the settings and the crowd.

“It was great though to make June’s Guinness world record attempt at Grantown East, courtesy of owners Tormore Distillery, where I had received early coaching from Dave Garman.”

The year will also be savoured for great competitions against champions including Vlad Tulacek - a caber legend himself - and Sinclair Patience, the star of weight for distance.

“They are very supportive,” said Andrew. “They give you help and advice, although you are of course always trying to beat them.”

He added: “I'm still training at Grantown East thanks to Tormore Distillery and we have folk from Grantown, Aviemore and Boat involved.

“During the winter there’s less outdoor training but the work is kept up in the gym. Nevertheless I’m really looking forward to the spring!

“My ambition for 2025 is to compete in as many games as I can, and I've been invited to games in Hawaii and California, so we're looking at the logistics for those. I want to get as much done before starting at Glasgow Uni in September.

“Also I aim to win the Glenfiddich league next year and make an attempt on another record - now I want to attempt the most cabers tossed in an hour!”

That record currently sits at 161 but the young star predicts: “I think 180 is doable.”

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