A Kintore man who hiked up and down Bennachie for 24 hours in honour of his late brother paid tribute to “the joker of the family.”
Michael Fletcher, 40, scaled Aberdeenshire’s most iconic peak at Mither Tap eight times, from 12pm on Saturday to 12pm on Sunday.
In doing so, he has raised more than £4,000 for Man Chat.
“He’d have loved to join us,” said Michael.
Michael was accompanied by Marc’s best friend Dale McMillan, with a constant flow of family, friends, and later, strangers, joining them on the increasingly gruelling ascents.
Dale’s body gave up on him after a heroic seventh ascent, but Michael staggered up Mither Tap an eighth and final time with just seconds left.
That’s a total ascent of 2,944 metres – over twice the height of Ben Nevis. Not to mention a total distance just shy of a marathon, but every step either up or down a steep hill.
And all on 30 hours without sleep.
‘His entire life could be seen from the top of Bennachie’
Michael’s brother Marc died in June 2023 aged 37.
“His entire life could be seen from the top of Bennachie, as he lived all his 37 years in Aberdeenshire, always within view of the hill,” said Michael.
A friend’s house on the Bennachie range served as a pit stop for Michael and Dale to recuperate and take in calories between ascents.
There were 15 people on the first climb, and even on the 3am climb there were five. Michael’s mum Suzanne and dad Steve each joined the pair for two climbs.
One childhood friend even drove more than 600 miles to take part.
“The support we had was superb and everyone was in great spirits throughout, regardless of time or weather.
“It made such a difference and spurred us on when we were struggling mentally.”
Michael’s running club Jog Scotland Kintore were on hand with coffee, soup and cakes throughout the 24 hours.
‘I have a very active lifestyle, but this was uncharted territory’
Marc’s family had raised £1,000 for Man Chat in donations at his funeral, and it wasn’t long before Michael and Dale were bandying about ideas on how to raise even more.
“They’re a grass roots charity operating on a low budget, so we thought this might be the best thing to raise money for,” said Michael.
Among the ideas, some crazier than others, Dale suggested doing a ‘Ben 10’, climbing Bennachie 10 times in 24 hours.
“Erm, I’m not sure Dale realised how much of an undertaking that was. I mean it’s not impossible, but…”
Michael suggested simply sticking to the ‘24 hours’ part, taking away any onus on the number of ascents.
Father-of-two Michael has a “very active lifestyle”, running or cycling most days, but admitted the challenge was “uncharted territory” even for him. And training wasn’t easy.
“I’d struggled to get out much in the hills what with the weather and family commitments.
“And Dale had some complications due to a medical procedure – he’d also been on a stag do in Germany which never bodes well for peak fitness!”
‘Agonising stories of terrible loss and pain’
The duo set themselves a target of raising a further £1,000 for Man Chat.
“We’d made that amount at Marc’s wake and Wray, who ran Man Chat, was very appreciative.”
Why Man Chat?
“I first heard of Man Chat at the tail-end of the Covid lockdowns.
“It’s a community initiative to get a bunch of blokes together to just get their stresses and problems off their chest, in a safe space with no judgement.
“It was only after Marc died that it became apparent that he had some fairly destructive coping mechanisms which he’d kept from everyone.
“Man Chat helps people like Marc. Dale and I actually attended a couple of sessions and we were truly humbled by what we experienced.
“Agonising stories of terrible loss and pain, spoken by men who had been through the wars and come out the other side fighting.
“They’d leave the room with folks’ numbers and a support network to rely on.
“One man told me: ‘I leave Man Chat and I’m buzzing for the rest of the week’.
“Funny thing was, we were too when we left – the energy and healing in the room was infectious and I’ve since been to a few more sessions. I aim to be a regular, to be a listening board and offer some of my own thoughts to help others.”
‘My legs started feeling weak, the pains crept in, and my mind started to wander’
In the end, the challenge raised four times Michael and Dale’s target.
The pair were understandably delighted, particularly after a day…and a night…and another day on Bennachie proved every bit as tough as they had anticipated.
“The worst bit was the midnight climb. We’d been up since 6.30am, and the mental and physical toll was starting to set in.
“The darkness, even with headtorches, really slowed our progress down. It was the only time during the 24 hours that it rained, and in my sleep-deprived state I’d forgotten to pack my jacket.
“I felt that climb might be the last one, my legs started feeling weak, the pains crept in, and my mind started to wander.
“But it was a 24-hour challenge and we knew there’d be ups and downs.
’45 minutes’ shivery sleep’
“Then there was the 3am climb – we managed to get maybe 45 minutes’ shivery sleep before the 2.30am alarm woke us up.
“We were both really up for it though, so after a big cup of tea and another feed, we were back down for 3am where friends were already waiting to go.
“Unfortunately Dale had to throw in the towel after the seventh climb because his knee gave in.
“I did the eighth and final climb with his 11-year-old son Calen, who amazingly completed five ascents – his little sister Ada did three.
“Marc was close to Dale’s kids, which made me really enjoy the walk and talk with them all the way.
“When we got through the entrance to the Pictish Fort, we realised it was 11.58am and managed to sprint to the top just before 12pm.”
He added: “One of the highlights for me was seeing my stepdad Chris making his way to the top.
“He’s 71 and didn’t feel he could manage anything like that due to osteoarthritis in his hip, but buoyed by the crowd of friendly faces hiking up and down he managed to get there.
“Despite having lived here for over 30 years he’d never been up Bennachie – he was amazed by the view.”
‘He’d bought one person a dog, saved marriages, and prevented a friend from taking their life’
Michael and Dale’s thoughts often turned to their brother and best friend during their 24 hours on Bennachie.
“Marc was the joker of the family, always making everyone laugh,” said Michael.
“That never changed in adulthood, often making his friends laugh the loudest.
“As life went on, and good and bad times came and went, the previously care-free Marc struggled a bit to find direction in life, but he eventually fulfilled his dream of starting his own dog-walking business, ‘Fetch with Fletch’.
“He loved his job and was so good with the dogs he walked. A few of his clients joined us for the challenge and spoke fondly of how Marc was with their dogs, they told me he was the best dog walker they’d had.
“It was in the run-up to his funeral that we started to hear all these stories of how much he’d helped people out.
“He’d bought one person a dog, saved marriages, and prevented a friend from taking their life. All while socially quite isolated.
“Marc had struggled a bit with the ups and downs of life for a number of years, and his family and friends tried hard to support him through the darker periods of his life.”
‘He loved to beat me at everything we did’
He added: “I’ve no idea what he’d have made of us doing this challenge, although I’m sure he’d have had something acerbic and quick-witted to say.
“He’d have loved to join us though, especially with him being so competitive, particularly with me – he loved to beat me at everything we did.
“And he had this natural ability to achieve instantly what others would try painstakingly to accomplish.”
To donate to what Michael called a “truly fantastic cause”, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Michael-Fletcher-3.
Man Chat meets every Tuesday at 7pm in the Tesco Inverurie community room.
Conversation