New record set in the Munros by Highland ultra runner
● Climbs 282 hills in a fraction over a month, cycling from peak to peak
An ultra runner from the Highlands has taken Munro bagging to incredible new heights after setting a new record and scaling all of Scotland’ s 282 mountains in 31 days and 23 hours.
Don ni eC amp bell, from Inverness, survived on 12 energy bars a day for the epic challenge, which saw him forced to run up the same Munro twice after misjudging the top due to cloud and then complete 28 peaks over two sessions with just 30 minutes sleep in between.
Mr Campbell, 35, a former member of the Royal Marines, completed his mission eight days faster than the previous record holder.
He finished the challenge on Scotland’s most northerly Munro – Ben Hope in Sutherland – at precisely 5.02am yesterday.
Speaking from his home last night, Mr Campbell said he would celebrate with a bottle of champagne, a takeaway and an early night, adding that he was looking forward to some home time after a month on the move.
He said: “It is great to have done it–and I am really pleased I don’ t have to run again today.”
It felt “surreal” to have finished the Munros in the fastest time, he said, adding that he had dreamt of completing the challenge for a long time. In total, the athlete ran a total of 883 miles – the equivalent of 14 ascents of Mount Everest – and cycled a further 896 miles to cover the distance between the peaks. He used a kayak to get between the island Munros.
His wife, Rachael, followed the route in the couple’ s motorhome, where Mr Campbell slept at night.
Mr Campbell, who planned to complete the challenge in 33 days, said :“I knew my schedule was very ambitious but it excited and scared me.”
His toughest days were some of his final days of the round. On Monday, he reached an incredible 18 Munros in the north-west Highlands, from Slioch near Kinlochewe to Ben Wyvis near Dingwall.
After only 30 minutes of sleep, he then cycled to Am Fao chagach, near Ullap o ol, and then completed another ten Munros to finish on B en Hope.
Agonisingly, he was also forced to climb the same Munro twice on day 29.
He said :“It was annoying when I realised at the bottom of Moruisg in Glencarron that I needed to go up again.
“It was my own fault due to cloud and a lack of concentration at the top.
“I reached a large cairn which I thought was the summit but my tracker showed later that I needed to go another 200m to a small pile of stones.”
He said the hardest moment came on the 17th day when he said he felt fatigued both physically and mentally.
Mr Campbell added: “I’d just done several tough days backto-back and I was questioning what I was doing.
“I’d been busting a gut for so long but I couldn’t see the end.”
Mr Campb ell now plans a two-week rest before getting back to his job coaching other runners.
He said: “I am sure it will all sink in at some p oint. I still can’t really b elieve it is over after all the planning and then all the days in the mountains.”
The previous record was set a decade ago by English fell runner Stephen “Spyke” Pyke, who finished the 283 listed Munros in 39 days.
Due to re -measurement of the Munros, the list now sits at 282.
Two-hundred-and-eightytwo Munros climbed in thirty-one days and twenty-three hours. Sometimes, astonishing achievements have to be spelt out in full to focus minds on just how astonishing they are and provide reassurance that there’s no mistake, no misprint.
For ultra-runner Donnie Campbell, 35, really did summit every mountain of 3,000ft and higher in Scotland over this extraordinarily short period, which is, you’ll be unsurprised to hear, the shortest ever. That’s an average of nearly nine peaks a day (he did 18 on Monday)! “It is great to have done it,” he said before adding: “I am really pleased I don’t have to run again today.”
Such feats can help to inspire the rest of us, even if it’s just to get off the couch and go for a walk. That walk may eventually take us up a Munro or two, but it’s fine, if we find ourselves moved to do the whole lot, to spread them out over a lifetime.