Gary Milne is fond or an adventure or two. I first spoke to him when he was embarking on a Year of Microadventures. Now the medical graduate has set himself a huge summer outdoors challenge, to complete a “sort of” triathlon via 10 of the biggest Munros.
Gary, of Glasgow, says: “This is my last big summer before starting work as a junior doctor so I wanted a way to celebrate. I love the outdoors and triathlon so I decided to combine these to come up with my Big 10 Triathlon.
“I also decided to do this for charity. I chose Scottish Mountain Rescue because over the last couple of years I’ve been spending a lot more time in the wilderness and have come to realise what an invaluable service they provide in sometimes unforgiving environments, putting their lives on the line to save others, and they’re all volunteers.”
Gary’s Big 10 Triathlon was inspired by Dr Andrew Murray and Donnie Campbell’s Big 10. The ultra running pair completed Scotland’s 10 biggest mountains in less than 24 hours.
Gary says: “I saw Andrew and Donnie doing this big run on the Adventure Show and I thought it would be great if I could somehow turn it into a triathlon.”
The Big 10 Triathlon
Gary’s Big 10 Triathlon starts at Loch Lomond and finishes near Aviemore over three days. He’ll cover approximately 395km (245 miles) and it will divided in to a 6.5km swim across Loch Lomond, 320km of cycling spread over five legs, 66km of running taking in the Big 10 Munros over three big runs.
On Saturday July 18, he will swim 6.5km swim across Loch Lomond from Luss to Balmaha.
The rest of the day one schedule looks like this:
84km bike ride to Ben Lawers by Loch Tay
11.5km run, with 984m ascent, over Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers
33km cycle to Crianlarich
Day 2 of the Big 10 Tri
94km bike from Crianlarich over Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe and then on to Glen Nevis.
19.5km (2120m ascent) run over Aonach Beag, Aonach Mor, Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis. Gary says: “This run will be tough with the difficult terrain, especially along the CMD arête, and I an really hoping the conditions are in my favour.”
30km bike from Fort William towards the Cairngorms.
Gary and girlfriend Elly.
Day 3 of Big 10 Tri
77km bike ride to the Cairngorms.
36.5km run (2600m ascent) deep in to the heart of the Cairngorms to take in Ben Macdui, the Lairig Ghru and then the summit of Braeriach, then remote Cairn Toul and on to Glenmore Lodge.
Gary says: “At this stage it all feel very daunting but I won’t be doing it all alone. I’ll have support across the various stages. My girlfriend Elly and parents will make up the core support team and they will follow the challenge by car and carry kit and supplies, helping out when needed.
“My friend Tom is going to canoe the swim stage with me, keeping me safe across the busy Loch Lomond and I’ll possibly also have another swimmer accompanying me.
“Most of the bike stages will probably be done solo or partly with my dad, with support close by in the cars if needed.
“I’ve got some friends joining me for the run legs, which I think is where support will be really important. They’ll be providing what I’m sure will be well needed mental support as well as safety cover in the mountains.
“This challenge genuinely scares me and it’s going to take a lot to get through.
“The £500 raised so far for Scottish Mountain Rescue has kept me motivated through training, as has the prospect that this will be really pushing my limit, so I’d better train and give myself the best opportunity to complete it.”
For more information and to follow or sponsor Gary see:
Gary Big 10 Triathlon Just Giving page
Depth Over The Distance
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