14-15 June 2014
“I met a gin soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis…der der der”. The guitar player sang out the first line of the Stones song as per my request in the mist on top of the Ben at 0926. It brought back memories of dancing drunkenly in full winter ice climbing gear and plastic boots in a bar in Banff, Canada after a late night scary descent after climbing Professors Falls with big Kev who had shouted drunkenly to the blues band “can you play Honkey Tonk Woman”. I was pleased. It was 4 minutes faster than my last time in wet drizzly rain and clag. It wasn’t too cold, if we kept moving the dampness would keep us cool. Bearing taken by Euan Boyd, time recorded, texts sent to support team and family, Fraser Gibson caught up, now where are those metal posts leading to the Carn Mor Dearg (CMD) Arête. I hate that descent on big loose boulders and as I swung round the first post I realised how slippery it was and took a bit more care not to prang anything. We missed the start of the chicken run and wasted a minute dropping down to it only to come back onto the ridge and spot it below us again. The cloud cleared looking down towards the CIC hut below the great cliff on the back of the Ben, then drifted back. On the summit of Carn Mor Dearg we had already lost more time so on the descent I cut onto the first snow which turned out to be too steep and a grip on the bergschrund was needed to prevent a serious slip for both Euan and I. Further down there was fast running on the snow and I made sure we kept left to avoid dropping into the col via the horrible slabs and gullies on the right of the base of the CMD East ridge.
We were out of the clag for a while and Take That’s Shine was in my head as I wished the sun would burn off the cloud. It is a favourite song with the family and made Aonach Mor pass quickly, but still behind schedule. Where does time go on this run? The snow fields to Aonach Beg were fast but a niggle from two weeks ago returned in my knee which was annoying. I hoped it would run off and put it firmly into the back of my mind, in a box, and shut the lid so I could not see or hear it scream. Also, Fraser Gibson who wanted to try a Ramsay Round (RR) wasn’t happy. Euan encouraged him and at the top of Spinks ridge I asked Euan to wait to make sure he got the right line. It is steep, loose and was wet with a nasty trap if you go right towards the V notch that looks like it is the way down. It is not, you go leftwards. This enabled a great photo opportunity looking far down into Coire Bhealaich 600m below. Crossing the col above the coire and climbing Sgurr Chionnich Mor I looked back and saw Fraser with his map out sitting down. This was not a good sign from him so to encourage him I shouted to make sure he contours the first top at 900m. At the next col, Mark Leggett was waiting with food and spooning a pot of Muller rice and some food and I made a quick decision that Mark L needed to stay for Fraser and I’d go on with Euan. I felt a bit bad about this as I hardly knew Mark L having met him only briefly and asked him to support me before Fraser had decided to attempt a RR.
The Grey Coire hills are great running and I used the old snow fields where possible to avoid the sharp quartzite rocks that fill the coires and form the tops. It was hard to make each split and time was slipping through the hour glass requiring an unrelenting pace. I felt strong but running up any slight incline was getting sore again – a repeat of 2 weeks ago. Ignore it Hartree, don’t be a Jesse. Steep seemed OK going up and down hill was alright so I put being behind schedule down to being lazy on the inclines. No problem, don’t fret now there is a long way to go. On the ridge to Stob Coire Laoigh I tried to spot Fraser and Mark L on the snow patches behind me but didn’t see them. I was about 30 mins off the schedule so pushed harder on the snow descents and made a few splits, grateful that the running machine that is Euan Boyd was pushing me on. Descending Stob Ban to the Lairig Leacach we could not see the static support of Jonathan Whitehead and new support runner Neil Arnott who were to meet us on the track on the line between Stob Ban and SC Easian. We whistled and shouted then spotted them higher up the track with two others – Willie Gibson and Gilly Paul. A quick fuel on more Muller rice, fantastic carrot cake from Gilly, Lucozade Sport, and off telling Willie that Fraser was now with Mark L and should be OK.
The ascent of Stob Coire Easian is not my favourite and is tough going. Jon Gay calls these two hills the Assassins. A Killers song seemed apt and their classic ‘Can you read my Mind’ played in my head as we heather bashed to a small plateau before the last 300m to the top. Euan and I puffed up on the pleasant warmth. Thankfully Neil had recced a better line than I had found two weeks ago finding some useful grassy drainage lines and ridges with shorter heather but raced ahead waiting at the top. I didn’t record a time as the next Munro top is an 18 mins split away. There I reckoned I had clawed back maybe 10 mins since Stob Ban and we faced a great run down to Fersit. Where’s the snowfields – OK, on the other side of the ridge and rushed across to a fine line off with fantastic views for a change to Loch Laggan. At Fersit I was 28 mins behind schedule despite getting cramp on the track. I felt good and got well pampered by the support crew with feet washed, legs massaged, new shoes and socks, tea and medals. My son Finlay’s lemon drizzle cake was grabbed as I ran across the dam with Neil and new support runner Paul Nicol. The plan now was to get to Corrour Bridge asap and nail the tracks and paths in the valley and get back to the schedule. Game on.
For me, Stob Coire Sgriodain is the 2nd brutal ascent on RR. Having been seduced by the luxury of the support crew after over 8hrs of running, the heather is long and the slope gets steeper and steeper. We made good time and were about on the split. The mist came in and I could see Neil was taking extreme care to get the navigation right. When I was last here at the start of May there were huge snowfields that made great running and the timings quite easy. The clag, grass and moonscape rocks meant a harder push but Chno Dearg passed pretty well to time with a Dire Straits song line – ‘these mist covered mountains, are home now for me…’ seeming quite apt in my head. Chno Dearg is a bit Cairngorm-like with little of interest on the summit other than a rock cairn. Importantly, it is Munro 12 so half way. A directissima line down the back of the fabulous hanging coire below Meal Garbh heading south to Ben Na Lap gave a quick descent and great running. Paul wasn’t so sure on such steep ground, but Neil was flying ahead in the far distance to the river. Domestic stop required, water, electrolyte….no food bag 3a? Never mind, can’t get it all right and Neil produced some electrolyte powder so nothing was lost and off up the heather of the never ending Ben Na Lap. I was 5 mins down on the schedule again. This is route unforgiving, less time on domestics in future. But the run down to Corrour Bridge is fast and Neil picked a great line. We left Paul behind and sprinted. I thought I can get 5 mins back here then it is dry shoes and a food top up and game on.
Gilly was there again having walked from the Lairig offering more of her great carrot cake rocket fuel. Mick James and Jason Hubert were taking over from Neil who had done a great job getting through the hardest nav on the route in the clag. Having both done RR and various other huge days, I felt I was in good hands. Paul decided to drop out here and get the train instead of committing to going further. My plan – nail the first track to the end of the loch and bob along the grass path and bog to the next track, then sprint to Loch Eilde Mor and stop 2. Nice idea as previously I had run this section alone in 1hr 50 mins and had scheduled 2hrs 10 mins and time can be made. I tried singing Bobbing Along as a song in my head from the film Bednobs and Broomsticks, as Mick reminded me, which I find useful on monotonous rolling terrain but the pain in my knee was getting progressively worse. Some more Ibuprofen was downed and at the river crossing I tried a bit of cold water immersion but got told off by the guys and shouted at to get a move on. The bog was crossed and the next track became purgatory and my time saving strategy was in tatters. Mick tried to massage my IT band to ease the pain on the outside of my right knee but it didn’t seem to make much difference. As I lay there I decided to use my mental trump card that I had held in reserve for times like this, when the tunes in my head discussed with my daughter Lauryn were insufficient. I thought of why the balance had been tipped in April from just thinking ‘RR is an idea, but it is a bloody long way to run’, too, ‘I should do this and do it for a good reason other than that of a selfish hill runner’. I thought of Molly and her wonderful family who now have to deal with Spinal Muscular Atrophy in their lives and that I was blessed to be able to do this sort of thing when others can’t. I got up, stop being a Jesse Hartree. Thankfully, Mick produced some walking poles from his bag muttering something about ethics. Sod ethics, I accepted them hoping a good stride, gritted teeth and deep heavy breathing would keep good time as running was too uncomfortable.
The static team at Loch Eilde Mor ruin were again fantastic and well organised. There were loads of them that had made the 2hr walk in and had suffered the midges for hours waiting for me. I decided not to look at the time as I was frustrated by not having made up the time as planned and it was likely that I had become more behind schedule than I could afford instead. I couldn’t go faster with a dickey knee but damn, I was going to finish though no matter what. I felt good, well charged with fluids and food. OK, so I chucked some of it up only just managing to find a relatively clear space between the kit, clothing, towels, food and people surrounding me. Sorry Emily if you caught a bit, especially as we had only just met. Bob Waterhouse was on feet wash duty, Graham Nash on leg massage duty, John Mitchell and others thrusting food my way. I got down 4 spoonful’s of a great spicy lentil dahl that my wife Fiona had made; it tasted great after the sweet things. Fraser Gibson was there after bailing out from Stob Ban with Mark L to Roybridge. He had walked in with his girlfriend Emily Danby and Cally Ingham who tried plying me with a plate of fig roles and cheese biscuits on me like we were at an evening party at her house. I declined but appreciated the thoughtfulness fearing they wouldn’t stay down and didn’t want to spray people again and waste time putting it back in again. I needed my knee strapped to give some support and after a minor faff with a sticky crepe support bandage and tape this helped at least as a psychological boost. 8 mins gone, full running tights on, 10 mins gone, new shoes and socks on, head torch shoved on my head, 12 mins and off again grabbing for something and being told to get on my way. The red mist after over 14+ hrs on the go was descending around my head.
Sgurr Eilde Mor is the 3rd big pull for me with no path just heather, and also comes after another break when you’ve just eaten. Graham Nash joined Mick and Jason as a support runner and Willie Gibson still hadn’t done enough so was going to do the Mamores after his 16 miles of bondoo bashing so far. This put 4 RR finishers by my side. I was blessed. A plane streaked over the summit of the mountain with its vapour trail crimson as it was catching the sunset. I shouted for someone to get a piccy. Graham spoon fed me cashew nut curry and rice but the uphill effort made it hard to swallow so I thought we should save if for the top. Flat coke, flat Irn Bru and various colour jelly babies, except the black ones were being shoved into my mouth. Who was getting the black ones it thought. Someone asked if I wanted cake and I got a block of Finlay’s tiffin. I know the ingredients in this and it must have over 500 calories per piece. This could constitute a healthy warning, but everyone seemed to have a piece so we were all doomed. I ate away and could feel the energy building in me. I thought the chances of finishing under 24hrs were going to be slim given I needed to make time and not lose any more with my optimistic mental estimate being I had about 10 minutes float left in the schedule if I was lucky. I didn’t dare look at my watch other than to look at the altitude so I could check uphill progress. I felt good and thought I was going uphill pretty well. It was dark and cold near the top so I asked for my favourite yellow long sleeve top to be found to wear once we got to the summit cairn. By then, my brilliant Ultimate Direction Endure hip belt had been taken off me (not a plug but a great bit of running kit) along with the pouch with the tracker and my map, compass, schedule and phone, so I felt a bit naked but a few grams lighter on the knee. I’d been texting family and the support team and wanted this to continue. It sounded like we needed some children on the hill to sort out the tech, but it seems Graham figured it out. He fed me more luke warm Cashew curry and rice which had lentils in. It was really nice and maybe explained some of the noises coming out of me.
Next was a long descent to cross the Bhinnein burns and re-ascent onto col and over to the wee Binnien Beag that stands all on its lonesome. More domestics were needed to lighten the load and discussions on the best descent started. Some stayed at the col to save energy and Mick built marker cairns as we climbed to help spot the route back down on the wet sharp quartz scree path to the top. I thought I can’t have lost much time and everyone seemed reluctant to tell me of my progress so it was off back down to the Binnien col to meet Willie who had stayed in the col and his light flashing in the distance soon turned into him. Off we romped into the mist to climb the NE ridge as the preferred option for Binnien Mor’s ascent, hill 16 and 2/3rds of the way round. For me, this hill is the 4th big pull and there are a few options to climbing this one. Ours included some fun scrambling up greasy grooves, flakes and chimneys. Once this hill is done it leaves relatively smaller climbs and descents for the rest of the route. Mick was keen to sing and I needed some more songs in my head. He sang a long one I didn’t know of with about 10 verses, maybe 20, I lost count, then a rousing rendition of ‘will ye go lassie go….to pluck wild mountain thyme’ which most sang along to as I stumbled up the heather, followed by the ‘Wild Rover’ in between stuffing more colour JBs into me (still no black ones…a theft had clearly been committed …). I felt my pace had slackened and there was still no sight of the moon through the clag. Damn.
The next hill was Na Gruagaichean which is easier to say than to spell. Mick opened another Muller rice pot on this hill (I think) and spoon fed me like a baby as we walked up. Maybe he is the JB thief I thought; he seems to be too cheery with all these songs; jelly baby stealer. The climb past easily but I could not shake off this damn sore knee. I could walk pretty fast and climb well but knew I had to run everything runnable to have any chance. Mick egged me saying something about being 17 mins outside the schedule and shoved a black JB in my mouth. Maybe he’d been saving them up after all, taking them hostage from me. Maybe he’s alright after all.
The cut off to An Gearanach was located and confirmed by the presence of a discarded squaddies helmet previously found somewhere nearby and placed as a marker by Graham. I found myself leading the pack. On spotting a snow patch my brain said descend it, which was the wrong thing to do as we should have traversed it, and we ended up too low and too far north when we needed to head west. A sharp pull up the scree and voices were heard in the col between Stob Coire a’Chairn and An Gearanach. Joel Sylvester appeared and I heard the voice of Helen Wise. Then, unexpectedly I heard ‘Hello 2ba, fancy meeting you here’. It was Julian (Just) Williams, the father of Molly, a great friend, who gave me a hug. He had driven up from Sheffield unannounced and had met up with some of the support team at the caravan and then in the glen. 2ba was my nickname in the RAF MRT. It is a small thread size meaning a ‘little nut’ is needed. The military have a thing for nicknames. I was amazed but couldn’t wait around and headed into the mist and darkness for another slippery traverse along the sharp ridge of the classic Ring of Steall to An Gearanach. Through the mist Joel asked me if I preferred pasta or rice! I said ‘surprise me’. It was not easy to go fast in the dark and wet but soon we met with Frisbee (other plastic flying discs are available) Jeff Roberts who had been bivvying on AG for 6 hrs in the clag and drizzle. I turned around and tried to rush back along the ridge which seemed to have doubled in length and slipperiness to meet the people left in the col and realised Euan Boyd was there who had ran the first leg with me. He went on to total over 17 hrs on the hill doing probably 16 or 17 Munro’s (must be a RR candidate). Stob Coire a’Chairn passed with quite a posse of people now.
Am Bodach was as steep as I remembered but passed quickly. Helen walked close to me offering electrolyte drinks and tea. I fancied tea but it seemed too complicated. Graham shoved Blok cubes into me and they were ok. A right turn on the top took me to hill 21 and onto the Devils Ridge where Jon Gay appeared saying Heavy Whalley was at the wee Miseach Lochan. Heavy was a huge influence on my life since putting a lot of trust in me in 1987 when I joined RAF Leuchars MRT. He had been unwell and being up on the hill at 0500, just for me was incredibly kind. Anyway, it felt good to have all these great people around me and I was working hard to keep a good walking pace since I was struggling to run. With Graham and Jon we had discussed cutting West off the Devil’s Ridge into Coire Mhusgain at the rocky slab/ wall after returning from Sgurr A Mhaim summit. Graham Nash and Nicky Spinks had gone this way and Nicky felt it saved her 10 minutes in her record breaking round 2 weeks ago where I ran as a support runner on leg 1 only to lose her on the Aonachs. I knew I needed the time and was glad Jon had reccee’d recently and was confident of the way. The downside was having ~8 tired people descending a steep, loose, wet gully in the mist in the half light of the morning. Someone dislodged half a breeze block that for some reason seemed to be aimed at me. Nice. I had memories of descending Mount Assiniboine in British Columbia in 1991 with a team from the RAF MRT when something similar happened and the rock had smashed my helmet and left me needing 4 stitches from my best mate Billy Stitt from Killin and a helicopter ride. I tried to jump out of the way but it hit the back of my sore leg. Ouch, nothing broken but another pain to deal with but at least it took my mind off my sore knee. Ignore it Hartree, don’t be a Jesse. I was concerned though for the others and suggested the group split in two and stayed closer together hugging the gully walls to minimise rock fall. As we passed the 750m contour we started traversing steep slopes with lots on landslide debris but at least the falling rocks were missing everyone now. Crossing the burn coming out of the wee Lochan Miseach we headed up the path to Stob Ban. Heavy was on the ridge but we’d missed him. I shouted out to tell him to head for Stob Ban but only heard his voice back in the mist saying good luck or something. Another pull up and I felt a bit grey, but at least Euan was starting to look a bit weary at last.
It was getting lighter in the mist now. Stob Ban done and on to Mullach Nan Coirean, the last hill, with Jon stuffing blackberry Blok cubes into me. There really must have been a JB thief and there was plenty of black Blok about. Mick and Just were singing a rendition of a great song ‘Barratt’s Privateers’ which is a favourite of my friend Smudge Smith who I first completed the Mamores with on a Tranters attempt under full a moon and stars back in 1989 when we were young and foolish/bullish. We didn’t prepare, we just left a 2200 and didn’t need a head torch once even to read the map. I had chosen today’s date because it was a weekend nearest the longest day with a full moon and I had hoped to replicate that magical experience when the moon cast our shadows across the hillside. Such is life with Scottish weather in the hills, even on that attempt we had had to bail out (literally) at the Aonachs in torrential rain which had made crossing the burns and torrents into Glen Nevis quite risky after such a great clear night before. The song has a line ‘I am a broken man on Halifax pier’ in it. I didn’t feel broken at all, I was well fed and watered, I was just pee’d off that I could not run enough on a route that demands running at every opportunity. I could walk OK and was not bad in the steep uphill so I kicked out and lengthened my stride and overtook a few people who had to bob to keep up with me. I still hadn’t looked at the time on my watch for over 10 hrs. There was no point as I had gone as hard as my knee would allow, but I reckoned it must be nearing 0800 and I must be out of time.
On Mullach Na Coirean, hill 24, people were puffing hard and some looked knackered,but I was there, 24 Munro’s done. I was chuffed with that but noticed Jon was edging towards the descent while Just was sitting on the cairn and looked like he needed a break. I finally looked at my watch for the first time in ages to see what the time damage was. It was 0715. Blimey I thought, I was really pleased, that was much better than I had expected. It could still be game on so I sprinted, well I tried to sprint (ignore it ‘Hartree, don’t be a Jesse’ went through my mind again) after Jon for the long descent to the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. Charlie Ramsay who first did this challenge under 24 hrs has a few rules for anyone attempting this and to claim a sub 24 round. You have to start and finish at the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel, you can go clockwise or anti clockwise, and you must show evidence of being on each of the 24 Munro summits (as per the 1978 height estimates), oh, and no vehicular assistance. The top of the Mullach is rocky and it’s not easy to run until you descend to around the 820m contour where some nice grassy tracks start. If you go anti-clockwise you end on the Ben which is cool, but has the downside of a purgatory descent of the scree path by the Red Burn and then the pounding descent of the tourist path and the risk of colliding with the numerous punters (‘outdoor enthusiasts’) often making their first ascent of that magnificent hill. The rocks seemed to go on for too long so I soon slowed and was in pain and re-thought the chances of a 45 minute descent. If: I was fresh; a superb world class hill runner (which I am not); on clear dry day; in a competitive hill race with a bunch friends with a competitive bent; aiming to win with the top prize in that hill race (which could be a beanie hat, bottles of beer or even a pair of socks!), then a 45 minute descent might be game on. Maybe for some. Graham had hoofed it a few weeks ago to check the best possible time and got down in 53 minutes and he is good. My estimate split for the final section was 1 hr 17 mins but I knew I could trim 10 mins from this if fit. 45 mins was clearly impossible. So I bobbed down and tried to enjoy the magnificent views of a very green Glen Nevis which at last revealed themselves under the clouds.
‘Like walking in the rain and the snow, when there’s no-where to go, and your feeling like a part of you dying…the things we do for love’ went through my head by 10cc and seemed like a good reflection of the day. All the support team were spread out and the ground gets wetter and wetter as you go down towards the forest in Glen Nevis. Willie Gibson was away to the left and likes steep, wet gnarly ground. I like Willie and started to head in his direction and found a nice steep, soft, wet drainage line to go down which was better than the heather and rocks on the eroded path near the fence. It ended all too soon but I enjoyed the relief and ran the bottom boggy section to the deer fence. It was nearly 0800 so I carefully climbed the fence and bobbed down the rock steps in the woods watching the time so I could note where I was at 0800. At 0800, the 24 hr point, I was at the 200m contour on the side of the glen and the finish was at 30m at the YoHo ~2.5 miles away and along a forest track – the terrain which strangely gave me the most problems. We cut off the first track and like a scene from the Hobbit, tore down through the woods jumping fallen trees and moss clumps to cut the corner. The lower track was downhill for a while so I started to run again and felt pretty good and full of energy. If only I had been 100% at the start. As the track flattened off and rose again we stopped to walk and the pain came back to my knee and I had to dig in really deep and hard this time with Helen and Joel egging me on gently. I was so hot and needed to cool down and took my long sleeve yellow top off. Willie produced a (well used) Carnethy Hill Running Club race vest and I put it over my favourite running T and felt proud to be in such an amazing club with such amazingly generous and fit people. Jon found the wee cairn marking the next cut-off through the woods to the road 1.2km from the Youth Hostel. Willie, Jason and others had missed it and I shouted for someone to get my bum bag with the tracker from Jason so it tracked me crossing the finish line. Even though the cut-off through to the road is only 100m crossing one fence and a short downhill hill it was so painful. Fraser appeared to offer encouragement and show the easiest line to the road. I was out of time so no point running in pain. A brisk walk was OK.
One more rise and descent on the only tarmac in 90km and Willie appeared on my left having had a final bondoo bash to add to his 20+ hrs on the hill. I looked at my watch, 0845, damn and blast getting 2/3 of the key ingredients for Ramsay’s Round not quite right for a sub 24 hrs time. Someone disappeared ahead I guess to warn of my approach and there was the YoHo with a red and white finishing tape across the road. I felt a bit embarrassed, all those people having been stood around waiting for little old me in the morning midges, and I wasn’t even running. All these top runners around me and I was walking. I broke into a bob and thought – hey, no sore knee that’s good. My left leg felt brilliantly strong and right one was just numb. I heard Charlie shout ‘Get your arms up’. I wasn’t a champion so put them out and ran through the finish line in 24hrs 47minutes. Job done.
We milled around for a few photos. Paul and Christine Dennis and John Mitchell from work were there along with my great friend Heavy who I had missed in the mist. I had said to everyone on the hill with me at some point that they would get a kiss from me at the end, but decided hugs were more appropriate, apart from the girls. I am never one to miss an opportunity. Charlie wanted some photos and Fraser was tasked by Graham to go get some beers. People I didn’t know applauded, which was nice. As we sat down on the wall to get a group picture, I looked up at the Ben. The top was clear, with blue skies, the sun was out and it looked perfect conditions to do a Ramsay’s Round sub 24. I laughed, so much for planning.
I acknowledge all the people who supported me on this below and hope no-one is missed. There are 6 who have completed RR under 24hrs, others who are legends and superheroes to me but modest people, some I had not even met before, others just once. There were some immense commitments, some people on the hill for over 17hrs, others doing over 35 miles, others travelling thousands of miles to be there. And some nice surprises along the way especially Molly’s Dad Julian at 0330 and an unmistakable voice in the mist from Heavy Whalley at 6am to egg me on, even though I never saw him. What a bunch.
Advice to me before I did this came from many people and I took it all in. It can be summarised and I pass on to others that you need maybe 3 ingredients to come together for this sort of thing. I think these apply to any outdoor activity and might be obvious and almost clichés, but if you don’t get them right then things are going to be tough:
Mind (including planning and support)
- This is critical to keeping it all together and minimise logistic errors
- My support team was awesome and advice for planning so valuable
- Memories and songs in your head can get you through tough times
- I score that 10/10;
Weather (including terrain and safe passage)
- Weather was OK…ish (not windy, not too hot, shame about the drizzle and cloud). I’d give it 6/10 (we are in Scotland for goodness sake)
- Terrain was often slippery and slimey on key sections that needed to have dry grippy rock for fast passage. I’d give that 2/10 particularly when combined with mist and darkness plus the odd rock fall.
Body (being fit at the start and not injuring en route)
- I was 9/10 at start with a niggle that I hoped I had rested enough and would either disappear or run off. This lasted for 3 hills.
- On the track section along Abhainn Rath and Allt Eilde this reduced to minus 5/10 when running was too painful.
- For the rest it was 3/10.
I finished at a leisurely pace as a 45 minute descent of Mullach Nan Coirean was impossible and para-gliders and mountain bikes are not allowed, although I had quietly hoped one had been stashed on the hill for me. Running hard on RR is mandatory for sub 24 hrs. 24hrs 47mins was acceptable and I had raised £5000 for the charity SMA Support UK so thanks to all who have donated so far.
The website is open for a while if you’d like to donate at: www.justgiving.com/mark-hartree
If this no longer works in the future when reading this and you would still like to make a donation then go direct to Spinal Muscular Atrophy Support UK via their website at: www.smasupportuk.org.uk Children like Molly and their families will appreciate it, and so will I.
Mark Hartree – 18 June 2014
Support team acknowledgements and role
(in no particular order other than the first guy)
Person | Job done | Completed RR |
---|---|---|
Charlie Ramsay | Static support (LEM) Starter / Finisher / Inspirer | 1st |
Bob Waterhouse | Static support (LEM) | |
Cally Ingham | Static support (LEM) | |
Christine Dennis | Static support (Fersit) | |
Elma Scott | Static support / cakes (Tyndrum) | |
Emily Danby | Static support (LEM, Fersit) | |
Euan Boyd | Support runner (Leg 1 & 3) | |
Finlay Hartree | Static support / cakes (home) | |
Fiona Hartree | Static support / dahl (home) | |
Fraser Gibson | Attempter Static Support (Fersit) | |
Gilly Paul | Static support (Lairig / Corrour) | |
Graham Nash | Support runner (Leg 3) Static support (Fersit / LEM) | 72nd |
Heavy Whalley | Static support (somewhere in the mist) | |
Helen Leggett | Static support (Fersit) | |
Helen Wise | Support runner (Leg 3) | |
Jason Hubert | Support runner (Leg 2 and 3) | 48th, (winter attempt also) |
Jeff Roberts | Support runner (Leg 3) | |
Joel Sylvester | Support runner (Leg 3) | |
John Mitchell | Static support (Fersit and LEM) | |
Jon Gay | Support runner (Leg 3) | 58th, 70th Winter solo!!! |
Jonathan Whitehead | Static support (Lairig Leachach) | |
Julian (Just) Williams | Support runner (Leg 3) | |
Lauryn Hartree | Static support / tunes (home) | |
Mark Leggett | Support runner (Leg 1) | |
Mick James | Support runner (Leg 2 and 3) | 34th |
Neil Arnott | Support runner (Leg 1 and 2) | |
Paul Dennis | Static support (Fersit) | |
Paul McGreal | Tracker, Durty Events | |
Paul Nichol | Support runner (Leg 2) | |
Willie Gibson | Support runner (Everywhere) | 48th |