An Oban man forced to abandon a 100-mile run to Fort William and back as he suffered crippling post-op agony is already planning his second attempt.
Innes Hughes, 23, made his first attempt in the last days of December, only months after recovering from gall bladder surgery.
Mr Hughes set himself the target of completing the run in freezing temperatures within 24 hours, with six checkpoints for food and water along the way.
The personal trainer, who also works at Tesco, had his gall bladder removed in October and started training for his massive run following his recovery from surgery.
He set off from Station Square in Oban at 5pm on Tuesday and planned to arrive back there by 5pm on Wednesday.
His challenge is raising money for Oban peer to peer support group Martyn’s Monday Club, which helps people struggling with mental health issues.
Mr Hughes told his followers on social media that he had to give up before the halfway mark.
He said: “Breaks me to have to say this, but at the 32 mile mark it was decided that I was no longer fit to continue and pulled from the run for my own safety.
“Taking into consideration the time between the surgery and now, it just wasn’t safe to keep pushing through the pain I was experiencing in the area of my surgery.
“I was struggling to keep running. Along with the dropping in temperature below freezing and all three of us falling and sliding – it just wasn’t safe to push on to Fort William on my own.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow and I was trying to fight my support team to push on – but I have to accept that I would just do damage to myself and unfortunately the decision was made and it is what it is.
“I know it was the right decision but I still wish I could have gone until I dropped.
“I do promise once the right amount of recovery time has passed, and I give myself enough time to train, I will go and restart the run and will complete it within the 24 hours.
“I just need to take it on the chin and accept it was just too early from surgery to push my body to that limit.
“I’d rather reach for the stars and land on the moon, than never reach in the first place.
“Thank you so much to everyone that donated and of course the donations will still go to Martyn’s Monday Club and once I can, we’ll run it back.”
