Two young Scots are preparing to run 12 marathons in 12 days to raise money for Make 2nds Count and Marie Curie.
Charlie Brett, 22, and Toby Gray, 18, will run from Torrisdale, Sutherland to their home in Edinburgh for their Highlands2Home challenge.
The pair will run 26.2 miles each day and cover a total of 314.4 miles between June 14 and 26.
Mr Brett, a student at Edinburgh College, said: “The challenge is in memory of all our loved ones who have been taken by cancer and for families everywhere whose lives have been impacted by cancer.
“We’ve discovered a new-found passion to push ourselves beyond the limits for a cause bigger than ourselves.”
The lifelong friends are part of the Scottish-based adventure team, The Tartaneers, who are aiming to make a difference across communities. They were inspired to start charity challenges after a close friend and a family member were diagnosed with cancer last year.
Mr Gray, who is in his final year of school, said: “We have a mindset of pushing ourselves and never settling.
“The hard work we’re putting in is nothing compared to those suffering. That’s why we’re proud to have this opportunity to help make a difference.”
A marathon challenge
Last June, the pair completed a 24-hour challenge comprising of a 2km row, 3km run and 10km cycle every hour. They had aimed to raise £2,000 for Cancer Research but by the end had an “overwhelming” £24,000 of donations.
Mr Brett said: “Around November last year we decided we wanted to do another challenge in memory of our friend who died of cancer, but we weren’t sure what to do.
“It was Toby who came up with the 12 marathons in 12 days idea, which sounded ridiculous at first, but here we are.”
The pair’s main sporting passion is rugby and neither had ran more than 10km when they came up with this challenge idea.
He continued: “We got up to 15km in January and were dying. We were asking ourselves ‘Why have we done this?’ and because we hadn’t posted anything online by that point, we almost changed our minds.
“But we’re raising money for people who are suffering a lot more than we are so it’s important that we stick with it.”
“That’s when we decided to bring in the pros and have been building up our training over the last five months. I’ve now ran two marathons that were both comfortable and I know it wouldn’t have worked without professional help.”
Documenting their journey
The Tartaneers are sharing their journey online with the help of videographer Jack Nicholls and team manager Shona Campbell. They hope their regular updates will help to spread awareness of the charities which supported their friends and family.
The money raised through the challenge will be donated to Marie Curie and Make2ndsCount. The Edinburgh-based cancer charity supports women and men living with secondary breast cancer
The 22-year-old added: “We’ve been in contact with both of the charities and they’re really chuffed with what we’re doing.
“We want to raise as much money as possible for both of them and also spread awareness, especially after such a tough year.”
The pair have set their target at £30,000 and have already raised £16,000 before the challenge has officially started.
The team are “excited” about heading up to Torrisdale on June 12 and getting started with the challenge.
Mr Brett said there has been lots of organisation involved that has caused “moments of stress”. The team have had to plan their route back to Edinburgh in advance and they will cover Inverness, Aviemore and Perth during the two weeks.
He added: “We’ve been raising money for travel and accommodation through sponsors and have gotten so much more than we expected. We’ve even been given some freebies from hotels. It’s been brilliant and the best part is how supportive everyone is.”
Getting others involved
The duo also launched The Tartaneers Challenge on June 1 to encourage communities to do their own fundraising. The 12 day challenge for schools and clubs involves groups travelling as many miles as they can through their own choice of exercise.
Mr Brett said: “We’re trying to get as many people and groups involved as possible and we’ve already had schools in Edinburgh and up north sign up.
“This challenge is about so much more than just us, so we’re really happy with the reaction we’ve had so far.”
Community groups can walk, run, swim, cycle or pick any other form of movement and share their progress in Strava. The proceeds raised will be split 50/50 between The Tartaneer’s chosen charities and a charity chosen by the fundraising group.
People can donate to the Highlands2Home challenge through the team’s Money Giving page and keep up to date with their progress via social media.