ONCE AGAIN, Scotland's Great Glen has ran with blood, sweat and tears as the rural industries put forward their teams to compete in RSABI's Challenge, cycling, kayaking, walking and running an epic route from Fort Augustus to Fort William.

After a couple of frustratingly inactive Covid years, the Great Glen Challenge's return was warmly welcomed by the 85 competitors taking part, who despite the aforementioned bleeding, sweating and crying, had a thoroughly good time, from the 9am bike race start at the Fort Augustus Locks, to the last man over the running race finish line at Banavie's Neptune's Staircase at just after 3pm in the afternoon, and thereafter to a slap up feed in the Moorings Hotel, while the event adjudicators battled with the points calculation that would reveal the winning team.

As has sometimes been the case in the past, securing individual first places in the 46kilometres of mountain biking, 6km of kayaking, 18km of walking and 17km of running of the Great Glen Challenge is not always the way to team victory, and despite leading the field in both the running and walking sections – and in the case of the running, leading it by an overwhelming margin – the Begbies Traynor team finished second overall, pipped to the top spot by the accumulated solid results of Team Shannoch, who were left holding the trophy at the end of the day, with the Bank of Scotland 'B' team in a respectable third.

Competition newcomers Team Shannoch took points across all four sports, with Robin More coming fourth in the mountain biking, Rebecca Drummond coming in joint third in the walking stage, Claire Black taking third place in the running and Scott Drummond taking first place in the kayaking, despite never having been in a kayak before.

For Begbies Traynor, it was 2019 running race winner Lawrence O’Hara who once again hared off into the distance to claim that event, but Ken Pattullo also contributed to the team total by coming first in the walking stage.

The BOS B Team —were helped to the bronze medal by Phil Reid’s win in the mountain biking stage and Stewart McNaughton’s second place in the walking.

But of course, despite the competitive edge on the day, the whole event was driven by the common purpose of fund raising for rural welfare charity RSABI – and up to this point, the 17 participating teams have cumulatively raised an impressive sum of over £26,000. Donations will stay open until Monday September 5, and RSABI is encouraging people to make a donation to show their support for the huge efforts made during the Challenge.

RSABI chair David Leggat said: “We had the most amazing day at our Great Glen Challenge 2022, particularly special because this is the 125th year of RSABI. I’d like to thank the 85 competitors who took part and gave it their all. It was a thrilling competition, a very sporting occasion and it was wonderful to see everyone back. The atmosphere on the day was just fantastic, no doubt helped by the weather, and a lot of new friendships have been made.

“We’ve had amazing support from our main sponsor United Auctions, and thanks go to George Purves for coming to Fort William to present our prizes. Thanks also go to our event partners Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Retties who have given us great support and our media partners The Scottish Farmer who have been very supportive and given us great coverage.

“I’d like to thank everyone who helped us stage the Great Glen, particularly our stewards, marshals and staff team. We had around 20 volunteers involved on the day and in the lead up and sincere thanks go to all – we really couldn’t do it without you.

“A fantastic sum has been raised so far by the Great Glen Challenge. Funds raised will help us provide vital emotional, practical and financial support to people in Scottish agriculture, including Help for Heating grants, support to access counselling, and our Freephone Helpline – 0808 1234 555 – which is now open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.”

UA managing director Mr Purves said: “We’re proud to be the main sponsors of the RSABI’s Great Glen Challenge this year. The achievements of the teams both on the course and in their fundraising efforts have made a vital contribution towards the RSABI’s support for agricultural communities in these increasingly difficult times.

“We’re also pleased to sponsor the #Challenge125, which has helped our staff achieve many physical personal goals. Extending this fun initiative to December will allow more people to get involved with this important cause – and reap the health and wellbeing benefits.”

The 'For Our Growers' team from Agrovista UK are currently the team who have raised most funds, with their total sitting at a fantastic sum of over £4,400.

Leading results

Mountain Bike

• 1, Phil Reid – The B Team (Bank of Scotland);

• 2, James Towers – Galbraith Gazelles (Galbraith);

• 3, Seamus Murphy – SAC Basic Subscription (SAC Consulting).

Kayaking

• 1, Scott Drummond – Team Shannoch;

• 2, David Findlay – Commission Commandos (Crofting Commission);

• 3, Christian Ramsey – Johnston Carmichael.

Walking

• 1, Ken Pattullo – Begbies Traynor;

• 2, Stewart McNaughton – The B Team (Bank of Scotland).

Running

• 1, Lawrence O’Hara – Begbies Traynor;

• 2,William Fettes – For Our Growers (Agrovista UK);

• 3, Claire Black – Team Shannoch.

You can support the Great Glen Challenge Teams until Monday September 5 using the QR code below, or by clicking here