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Runner takes on cyclist in Hare and Tortoise Challenge across Scotland

Who'll be quicker? Former soldier running 350 miles in straight line, or colleague riding 750 miles along coast?...

Two investment managers from Edinburgh yesterday set off on what they have billed the MaT (Hare and Tortoise) Challenge through Scotland, with one running the length of the country over nine days, the other cycling, to see who can finish first.

On the way, they are seeking to raise money for three charities – Prostate Cancer Scotland, the Borders Children’s Charity, and The King’s Royal Hussars Appeal ahead of the regiment’s deployment in Afghanistan next year.

John Gunn is cycling 750 miles on a route that will take him from Kirkcudbright on the Solway Firth to Strathy Point, midway between Cape Wrath and Duncansby Head on Scotland’s north coast.

On the way, he will ride along the west coast, passing through towns including Tobermory and Ullapool.

His colleague, 47-year-old Christopher Godfrey-Faussett a former officer in the King’s Royal Hussars, is taking a rather more direct route, running 350 miles in a straight line between the departure and arrival points, following the 4 degree west line of longitude.

He is allowed to deviate 500 metres either side of that line to get round obstacles on the way, but there will still be some hazards to negotiate including two motorways and Loch Tay – he’ll use a canoe to negotiate the parts too deep for him to wade through.

His itinerary means that he’ll encounter few centres of habitation on the way, Motherwell and Airdrie being two notable examples.

"Within this zone I have to climb every mountain and hill that rises in front of me, and cross every river, loch or firth that I encounter," he told the BBC.

You can follow the pair’s progress using a GPS tracker link on their website, and there is also a link to Virgin Money Giving for donations to be made.
 

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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Pity that the GPS tracker on their website doesn't work.

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dave atkinson replied to cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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cat1commuter wrote:

Pity that the GPS tracker on their website doesn't work.

I'll wager that's to do with network reception in the wilds, that's what normally puts paid to my attempts to do live tracking. That or dropping my phone and jamming the power button  1

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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Its not that bad up here, its the up and down hills and across the rivers i would worry about

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cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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The cyclist will win, of course, assuming that he is of average ability.

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Gkam84 replied to cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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cat1commuter wrote:

The cyclist will win, of course, assuming that he is of average ability.

Have you looked at the routes? The cyclist is taking ferries between islands, thats going to take the advantage of being on 2 wheels away

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cat1commuter replied to Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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Yes, but "running" 36 miles a day off paths through the Scottish countryside? No chance.

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