If cycling 66-miles around Loch Ness wasn’t already hard enough, one man this year did it with vital oxygen cylinders on his back.
A record number of people competed in Etape Loch Ness at the weekend, with participants from around the world descending on the Highlands to complete the feat.
Gerard McLarnon, from Randalstown in Northern Ireland, was among them – had his own emotional reasons for pushing on to the finish line.
On March 31, 2020 he was admitted to hospital with Covid.
The 63-year-old remained there for 70 days – 57 of which were in intensive care.
He was on a ventilator for 40 days and had to learn how to walk, talk and swallow again.
Before being admitted, Mr McLarnon had been training for the 2020 Etape Loch Ness, which he believes was crucial in keeping him alive.
“I firmly believe that training for the Etape in 2020 saved my life,” he said.
“Had I not had that level of fitness to fight Covid, it would have been a different story.”
‘Really emotional’
Despite his long Covid battle, Mr McLarnon completed the cycle around Loch Ness in just over six hours and nine minutes.
He rode alongside 13 other members of the Creggan Wheelers, a cycle club in Randalstown, and described the day as “really emotional.”
For his younger brothers John and Dominic, who are also in the group, it gave them the chance to reflect on just how far he has come.
They said: “There were many times when Gerard was in hospital in Belfast that we were told he wasn’t going to make it, so to see him complete the Etape today is absolutely incredible.”
Carrying oxygen on his back
Following the race, Mr McLarnon thanked the organisers of the event and his teammates for helping him through it.
The event organisers arranged for him to have regular oxygen along the route, which he carried on his back.
He said: “Although I am pretty much back to normal, I do still need oxygen for intense physical activity like cycling.
“I am grateful to the organisers for assisting me and I am indebted to and proud of my fellow Creggan Wheelers who stuck by me, as they have over the last two years. We set out together and we finished together.
“It is this team spirit and a healthy dose of sheer bloody mindedness that has got me through.”