Huddersfield physio Shane makes history

Physiotherapist Shane Mooney (centre) is congratulated on completing the 430-mile Yukon run by Ellen Sexton of Pro Sport Physiotherapy and Air Ambulance volunteer Robin Owen-Morley Shane Mooney shows ‘the scars of battle’ after completing the Yukon Arctic run, which raised more than £1,000 for the air ambulance Yorkshire in 2010 to study, revealed that temperatures would hit as low as -50 degrees.

He stated on his blog after the race: “I started relatively well, took it steady in the middle and then made a big 66-mile final push. I had more sleep and moved a bit slower than I had planned, but made my ultimate goal and was over the moon.

“When I finished, I was never doing this race again, but already as the low points begin to fade I can see myself back.”

As the event began at Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon territory and finished at Dawson City, Shane was able to experience some of the most beautiful sights the world has to offer.

But at the Pelly Crossing around 239 miles in to the marathon he noticed there were wolf tracks.

“They were literally everywhere,” he added. “I tried not to think about wolves moving around near me.

“I’d been told that a competitor had pulled out of Pelly Farm after being followed by three wolves for a day, with one getting to within five metres of him.”

And before then, as he trailed towards the 208-mile checkpoint at Carmacks to McCabe Creek, Shane revealed how he started to hallucinate.

“It was a massive drag and I had a sense of déjà vu that made me hallucinate badly,” he said.

“The trail seemed to be closing in and I could hear voices talking to me from the trees.”