A Balloch woman has taken on a gruelling 192-mile challenge to raise thousands of pounds for lifesaving research.
Karen Nicol joined a team of ultra-runners who ran along the full length of the West Highland Way and back again in aid of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) last weekend.
Split into two teams – men and women – the runners started in Milngavie on Friday, November 25 and ran all the way to Fort William before turning and heading back to the starting point again, finishing in impressive times of just under 28 hours for the men and 38 hours for the women.
The group, who train with running and coaching business Pyllon, have so far brought in more than £4,000.
This challenge was not the first in aid of BHF for Karen, who has a personal connection to the charity.
She said: “It was an amazing and worthwhile adventure - but also super tough.
“The weather was pretty awful and the trail had almost turned into a flowing river! But I’m so glad to have done it.
“I ran my very first 10k for the BHF back in 2008. I wasn't a runner then, but I completed it in memory of my colleague Fiona, who sadly passed away when we were both on maternity leave.
“Our babies were just three months old when this happened, and I thought about her and her girls a lot while doing the challenge.
“Little did I know then that I would be embarking on a much bigger adventure for the same charity years later, but all the while thinking of Fiona and her family throughout.”
The BHF is the largest independent funder of research into heart and circulatory diseases in Scotland.
It is currently funding more than £50million in research at ten universities across the country.
David McColgan, head of BHF Scotland, said: “Congratulations to each and every member of Team Pyllon!
“Our research to help the 700,000 people in Scotland living with heart and circulatory diseases is only made possible because of the generosity of amazing fundraisers, like them.
“What an incredible challenge to have taken on and their efforts mean we can continue to fund lifesaving research to help us find the breakthroughs and treatments of the future and turn research that once seemed like science fiction into reality.”
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