Speyside fitness fans smash epic Lairig Ghru run – twice – for charity

An ultra-determined team of Speyside runners have raised nearly £12,000 and counting for local causes after tackling the treacherous Lairig Ghru mountain pass – twice – over one weekend.

The five members of the TWENTY19 Team had each covered around 1000km in training runs since March to get set for their two ultra marathons over two days from Dalraddy Campsite, near Aviemore, to Braemar – and back again – recently.

The epic effort was organised to raise vital funds for four causes: the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, children's cancer support charities Abbie's Sparkle Foundation and Logan's Fund, and Alzheimer's support group the Moray Monday Club.

In 2019, four of the team – Logan's Fund chairman Cameron Mackintosh (52), from Elchies, self-employed electrician Peter Duggie (61), from Dufftown, plumber John Norman (38), from Rothes, and Glenrothes Distillery warehouse supervisor Gary Ewen (37), from Garmouth – raised more than £16,000 for Logan's Fund by completing 20 non-stop climbs of Ben Rinnes in 48 hours.

That was not the peak of their charity efforts, however, and they were joined by Rothes Corde employee Cammy Flynn (25), from Rothes, for their latest ambitious 100km challenge – The Lairig Ghru There and Back Again.

Gary said: "I was looking to follow up on our Ben Rinnes TWENTY19 challenge and had always wanted to tackle the Lairig Ghru, so after a 30-second chat with Cameron it had escalated from walking it, to running it, to running it there and back again and that was it, 'The Lairig Ghru There and Back Again!' was born.

"Peter and John were quick to agree to take part and Cammy was signed up later."

Despite facing some slippy conditions underfoot when torrential rain slowed progress on the boulder field of the central Cairngorms pass, the TWENTY19 Team celebrated reaching their goal with a well-deserved dram on Sunday night.

Gary's employer, Edrington and The Robertson Trust, has pledged to triple the pre-Gift Aid figure raised via the team's JustGiving page – putting the total at nearly £12,000 so far.

Cameron said: "We really enjoyed the two days overall and everything went to plan.

"We had a tricky couple of hours in the middle when we encountered rain on the boulder field, which made the rocks slippy, and we had to pick our way through as best we could, but we got through it reasonably well.

"One of the team, Cammy, hit a rock on the first day, hurting his foot, so he was really disappointed to have to pull out on the morning of the second day.

"Day two went better than we had imagined. We were a little apprehensive about the second day – how we were going to feel after day one and what it would have taken out of us – but we got off to a good, steady start.

"We just had to get the heads down and plod on.

"At the finish I think we were all surprised that we felt better than we expected."

Gary, John and Cameron followed a made-to-measure training plan set out by Andy Bentley, of Odyssey Personal Training, to get them in peak condition. Andy was on hand along with friend Lori MacPherson as the team's mobile support over the weekend.

Another friend, Graham Thomson, camped at the remote half-way point of the route to provide support and to lighten the load for the challengers.

Cameron added: "We're really thankful for all the brilliant support, sponsors and donations. It was a great experience."

Donations can still be made here

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