Cleansing firm boss Alan, 55, took 9 days, one hour and 34 minutes to finish the gargantuan route, which might be a problem over flat terrain, however is made all of the extra gruelling by the requirement for entrants to scale the very best mountains in Scotland, England and Wales – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdown – alongside the way in which.
Alan was one among simply 17 finishers from a area of 32 – together with runners from as far-off as Brazil and Malaysia – with each finisher on this first-ever organised working of the race beating the earlier quickest identified time for the Three Peaks Extremely route.
Aberdeen ultra-runner Alan Cormack has accomplished the Nationwide Three Peaks Extremely – an extremely difficult 430-mile, nine-day race which is doubtlessly the UK’s hardest.
As the one athlete from Scotland among the many 17, Alan, in finishing the course 10 hours sooner than the earlier general document for the problem, is now the Scottish record-holder.
Failure was not an possibility for Alan, who stated: “I used to be truly advised by somebody who was serving to on the race, two weeks previous to it beginning, that he didn’t count on anyone to complete it.
“That ticked me off, so I used to be fairly decided to do it.”
Requested if there was ever any doubt in his thoughts he’d full the monumental problem, Alan added: “The one factor that will’ve put me out was damage. I used to be very cautious coming down (the peaks), as a result of I took a tumble on Ben Nevis and banged my knee and stuff. That was what I used to be actually involved about.
“I wished to point out individuals I might do it.”
Alan travelled by prepare and bus from his dwelling in Aberdeen to Fort William two weekends in the past, with the race beginning on the foot of Ben Nevis.
After working up and down the UK’s tallest mountain, rivals took the West Highland Means path to Milngavie, earlier than switching to predominant roads en path to the Lake District and the ‘tough’ ascent of Scafell Pike.
The course then took the runners into Lancashire, previous the likes of Preston, earlier than they skirted Liverpool and Chester on their approach to North Wales, the place a ‘very hilly’ remaining part culminated with the summiting of Snowdown.
On overcoming the fearsome extremely route each bodily and psychologically, Alan added: “I didn’t overthink the gap, however the essential half for me was I needed to get from Ben Nevis all the way down to Beattock (in Dumfries and Galloway). I actually needed to put the foot down there, as a result of it was 170 miles and I didn’t have a whole lot of time to do it.
“I feel it was about 69 hours I bought there in.”
Throughout greater than every week of intense effort, relaxation and correct meals have been in brief provide, with Alan explaining: “We ate once we might.
“There have been checkpoints, which have been village halls and neighborhood centres, as soon as a day. I used to be resting for a few hours, that was the utmost I might enable for velocity. It wasn’t luxurious – it was a case of chucking my sleeping bag down on the ground.”
