Callum Leese

An Epic Triathlon Adventure Across Scotland in Aid of the Army Family

Having delayed our honeymoon, my wife and I had planned to take some time off work to go trekking in Nepal before heading to western Europe and attempting to climb the highest peak in every country. But Covid-19 burst that balloon. However, we certainly weren’t unique in our loss, and all things considered felt somewhat fortunate.

So, as junior doctors, we returned to work. But in lockdown we got itchy feet, wondering what we could do instead. We live in such a wonderful place and, counting our blessings, decided to go and explore it.

The details of the adventure were skewed by over-excitement, but after consulting trusty Google we decided on something unique: to run the West Highland Way, cycle the North Coast 500 and then kayak the Great Glen, linking three of the best known ‘routes’ of Scotland together.

Then, in June, a friend and colleague in the army detachment which I am a member of unexpectedly and suddenly passed away. The last thing we talked about the day before his death was our upcoming adventure. After deliberation, we decided to use the pre-planned adventure to raise money for The Army Benevolent Fund, The Soldier’s Charity. For over 75 years it has supported army members (both active and retired) and their families whenever they are in need. This support has continued in spite of, and due to, the coronavirus pandemic.

We set off as soon as lockdown lifted, leaving Milngavie just north of Glasgow for the first part of the 154km run. The first day started off well, but 45km in we tumbled into the northern shores of Loch Lomond, which were more remote and extremely rugged. With my wife, Kirsty, on a mountain bike due to a hip injury at points it was almost unnavigable.

The second day was a breeze in comparison, just over 50km on much better paths and with wonderful views. The highlight was the last 20km from the Bridge of Orchy round the bottom of the Black Mount and onto Rannoch Moor. Quintessentially Scottish! The final day on the feet started with the Devils Staircase (not as bad as it sounds!) over to Kinlochleven. The first 30km went well despite being the hilliest, but with 17km to go I lulled myself into thinking I was almost there… and then lost the mental edge. It was a pretty unforgiving finish!

With the running done I was happy to get on the bike; although I wasn’t ready for the pace that Kirst was to set! The first day we cycled from Fort William (the end of the West Highland Way) to Plockton via the ferry over to Skye. The rest on the boat was certainly appreciated.

Day 2 was seriously wet. Views were limited, which was a shame because we cycled the 640m climb up the Bealach na Ba (the longest hill climb in the UK) and then on through Torridon, finishing up in Aultbea. On another day I’m sure it would’ve been the highlight of the trip! After a good dry out that evening we started ramping up the distances as we reached Assynt. The focus shifts from the mountains to the horizon, and its seriously breathtaking, both because of the views and the ascent on the costal roads. For three days in a row we hit almost 3000m of ascent, but this was the worst of them!

The fourth day was much of the same as we cruised into Durness by 10am before making our turn east. The day turned out to be a good one, and the cravings to pop down to one of the lovely beaches for a surf was high. But with a hope to get ahead of schedule we beetled along the north coast, and then finished on the East Coast with some fish and chips. The final day was a variant of the NC500 (Mark Beaumont’s route) avoiding the busy A9 by going in land to Lairg. Unfortunately, the first 60km was all into a 30mph head wind, another new gift from the gods of the Scottish weather!

With no hesitation we jumped straight into the kayak and breezed an evening kayak on the canal right to the mouth of Loch Ness, only to encounter the same battering wind having time to churn up some waves over a 20-mile run up. It was a battle lasting 90 minutes, but we made our peace and turned in for the night hoping for an improvement in the weather. The second day of kayaking provided little let up, with the first 6 hours into the head wind on what is a fairly uneventful, but wavy, loch! A pizza and coffee in Fort Augustus picked up our spirits and we got on the way again completing a fairly mammoth twelve-hour day, which we knew would be our penultimate!

The last day was the best weather-wise – calm and hot! The paddle down Loch Lochy was gorgeous and we made it into the last stretch of the canal leading to Fort William, when Kirst psychologically clocked out too early and almost fell asleep paddling! After some caffeine related sustenance, we finished the final two hours, finishing in time for a late lunch and an early beer!

Nine and a half days of gruesome but captivating endurance took us to our finish line. The bruises took a while to settle, but the psychological motivation of raising money for a wonderful cause kept us going. People have said you must be incredibly fit, I deny that. We had a cause we were passionate about which engaged the mind, and an incredible support team who were the real unsung heroes. Maybe we’ll settle to be the support team next time though!

Callum Leese, Class of 2011