Ex-army man, Gavin Taylor, who set himself an ambitious challenge of running 123 miles has completed the challenge in under his target of 24 hours.
Mr Taylor, from Ellon, took on the gruelling challenge to raise funds for the Scottish Association of Mental Health, a charity that is very personal to him.
Starting at Ballater in Deeside at 3pm on September 18, Mr Taylor ran 123 miles to finish in Peterhead in a time of 23 hours and 33 minutes.
He explained before the event why he decided to pursue such a daunting challenge.
He said: “I’m fundraising for SAMH as I’m all too aware of the hard times people face regarding mental health issues. The charity provides amazing services in Scotland and they cater for all kinds of mental health issues.”
Mr Taylor served in the army for nine years and has seen the impact that poor mental health can have on people such as the effects of PTSD.
After completing the challenge under his target time, Mr Taylor spoke about some of the hurdles he faced during the event.
He said: “It started it out well and I was managing to keep the pace that I had set for myself. But about 20 miles in I started to get bad stomach cramps and that forced me to lower my pace and keep at a lower but more consistent speed.
“I did this because the cramps may have forced me to stop the challenge altogether but once I had consumed some food I was able to manage the cramps for the rest of the race and as you can imagine it wasn’t easy.
“Once I realised that I wouldn’t be able to run as fast as I knew I could then I just focused on the task of completing the run in under 24 hours.”
‘This was to help those suffering from mental health and get the word out there.’
Due to the early onset of cramps, Mr Taylor had to abandon his initial plan of running at a fast pace – roughly one mile every 10 minutes – and fall back to a more steady and consistent pace.
While he was able to remain at the same pace throughout the majority of the 123 miles, he had to stop for longer than expected fuel breaks to restore and re-energise.
Not only did he have to cope with stomach issues during the race, but Mr Taylor also had until the day before the race been fending off a case of Lyme disease.
Mr Taylor was supported on the day by his family and friends, who at points were running or cycling alongside him with his son riding his bike on the final leg from Maud to Peterhead.
Mr Taylor said: “Having everyone out and supporting me was a major boost and helped me through some of the tougher sections of the route.
“It was an incredibly emotional moment to see the finish line after such an intense run, and all your family and friends are cheering you on to make it that last little distance and I admit I did break down in tears at that moment.”
Mr Taylor achieved his target of raising £5,000 to help the SAMH with their support services for those suffering from mental health issues.
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