He’s done it…just!
SHETLAND nurse Luke Holt realised his ambition of running the length of Shetland off road in under 24 hours on Saturday night, though it was a close shave.
A 45 minute hold up at the Gutcher ferry terminal after missing his connection following an arduous jaunt across the boggy island of Yell almost scuppered him.
Despite the unplanned delay, the father of four made it to the northern tip of Hermaness on Unst at 5.12pm on Saturday, just 48 minutes ahead of his deadline.
Holt hopes his endeavour will promote the 74 mile route between Sumburgh and Muckle Flugga to the rest of the growing off road running community in the UK.
He was also raising money to send local nursing staff for training to tackle bowel diseases like colitis and Crohn’s that he sees so often in Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital where he works as an anaesthetic nurse.
Brought up on Shetland’s Papa Stour, he took up hill running during his 12 years living in Dumfries. Having moved back to the isles, he now wants to develop the sport via his new website www.shetlandhillrunning.co.uk, and says there is already a growing interest from outside the isles.
His weekend marathon started at Sumburgh lighthouse at 6pm and took him up the spine of Shetland along Wester Quarff, Mid Kame, Voe and the Yell and Unst ferry terminals. It involved climbing 35 hills, a total height of around 5,000 metres.
“It went really, really well, my legs are really sore though,” he said at the finish, sounding surprisingly strong after his Herculean effort as he munched chocolate-covered coffee beans and supped on a bottle of well-earned beer.
“The night sections were very good, especially over the Kames with the sun setting and the moon rising over Foula. Yell was very, very challenging though with deep bogs and tussocks. Unst was a lot more scenic on the cliff tops on the western edge.”
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He thanked his support team including his wife Kate, their four children and his minders, including fellow hill runners Bill Crook and Robert Morrow who helped to keep him going through the night and his final 20 miles through Unst.
Now he hopes to start an annual race and having laid out a route he believes the Shetland run could join the ranks of the West Highland Way to attract more visitors to Shetland to run, walk or race the race across the islands hills.
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