RSABI, the charity dedicated to supporting people in Scottish agriculture, extends its heartfelt thanks to the sponsors, teams, supporters, and volunteers who made the Great Glen Challenge (GGC) 2024 a tremendous success.
The GGC stands as RSABI’s premier annual fundraising event, this year oversubscribed after drawing a full attendance of 27 teams from across Scottish agriculture.
The event, which runs between Fort Augustus and Fort William, benefited from a break in what has been a somewhat wet summer, allowing participants to enjoy well-suited sunny conditions.
The Challenge
Teams faced a demanding course, including a 49km mountain bike ride, a 6km kayak course, an 18km walk, and a 17km run. Participants took on a day filled with challenging outdoor sports, testing their endurance and fitness while also promoting teamwork and friendship.
In Review
Sponsored by Gillespie Macandrew, expert legal advisers to the rural sector, the annual challenge highlights the charity’s vital work and underscores the importance of physical fitness and teamwork for mental and physical wellbeing.
The event promotes commitment and collaboration from the start of training through to race day.
To date, £56,600 has been raised, surpassing the initial goal of £50,000. This year was made even more notable as this takes the total among raised since the event was launched 12 years ago to over £500,000. RSABI is urging sponsors to donate over the coming week.
Among the first-time participants was Women in Agriculture Scotland. Carole Brunton, WiAS chair and support driver for the team, highlighted: “It was great to be here and to get involved with helping to raise funds for such an important charity. “It helps to raise our profile and what we are about – a bunch of women helping others.”
Carol McLaren, RSABI chief executive, commented: “The Great Glen Challenge represents all the amazing support from within agriculture.
“We see the competitors going the extra mile to raise donations.
“Throughout the day, there is also a great sense of camaraderie and people pulling together.
“It is also fantastic to see such a cross-section of competitors, from lawyers, bankers and women in agriculture – so many sectors in the industry have got involved.”
At a post-event reception held at the iconic Neptune’s Staircase in Banavie, Alan White and Amy Eakin, partners at Gillespie Macandrew, presented awards to the top teams and individuals.
The overall winning team, for the second year in a row, was Scottish Woodlands, followed by Johnston Carmichael in second place, and NFU Scotland’s ‘Ninja Focused Union Sportspeople’ taking third, one of two teams entered by the union.
Individual awards included:
Lawrence O’Hara from Begbies Traynor for running, with a finish time of 1:11:05.
Mark Donald from NFU’s ‘Ninja Focused Union Sportpeople’ team, for a second year in a row, for kayaking, completing a timed lap in 0:03:15.
David Hamilton, SPEN’s ‘The Land Guys’ team, for mountain biking, crossing the finish line in 2:06:41.
A joint first place in walking awarded to David King of Scottish Woodlands and Daniel Maclean of the Crofting Commissions’ team ‘Commission Commandos’, with times of 2:35:53 and 2:37:24, respectively.
Participating teams hailed from organisations such as Women in Agriculture Scotland, Virgin Money, Thomson Cooper, SP Energy Networks, Scottish Woodlands, SAC Consulting, Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID), Royal Bank of Scotland, Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), NFU Scotland, Muckle Media, Gillespie Macandrew, MHA Edinburgh, Johnston Carmichael, Crofting Commission, Blackhall & Powis, Bidwells, Begbies Traynor, Bank of Scotland, Azets, and Agrovista.
The overall winning team from Scottish Woodlands, comprising Becky Millar, David King, Fraser Wight, Cameron Woodhall and Joe Birch, provided details on their experience of the event.
They said: “Being foresters, we do a lot of walking outdoors, and this keeps us fit, working to our advantage at this event.
“The highlight of the event for us have to be that finish line feeling. We had such a buzz, and it was all on behalf of such a worthy cause. The amazing scenery surrounding us certainly helped us along our way.”
Support and contact information
RSABI is urging sponsors to donate over the coming week: https://rsabi.enthuse.com/cf/great-glen-challenge-2024
RSABI’s freephone Helpline - 0808 1234 555 - is available 24/7, with calls not appearing on phone bills. All enquiries are handled confidentially by the charity’s friendly and professional team.
People can also connect with RSABI online through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or via the webchat feature on their website, available 24 hours a day at www.rsabi.org.uk.
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