The countdown to the 2014 Cateran Yomp has begun. Jack McKeown met one of its ambassadors, former Scotland rugby captain Rob Wainwright, who will be taking on the fearsome 54-mile challenge.
Next summer adventurous “Yompers” will be walking a marathon across the Perthshire countryside. And then another marathonand then almost two more miles.
The 54-mile Cateran Yomp takes place over June 28-29 and will see participants walk all day and all night to raise money for some very good causes.
Teams of three to six people start in Blairgowrie and hike a circular route which takes them through Kirkmichael, the Spittal of Glenshee and Kirkton of Glenisla.
Those who do not fancy the 54-mile Gold route can take on the 22-mile Bronze route or 36.5-mile Silver route.
Entry to the Yomp is £99 per person, which includes lots of food and drink, camping and a very necessary sports massage service.
The first 100 people who sign up get an early bird entry price of just £60 per person.
And joining next year’s participants will be former rugby union star Rob Wainwright. The 48-year old from Perth represented Scotland 37 times and captained the national side on 16 occasions.
He now lives on the Isle of Coll, in the Inner Hebrides, where he runs a B&B with his wife Romayne.
He says: “I was on a ferry from Oban with a lady from (Yomp sponsors) the Alliance Trust.
“We were talking about a previous sporting challenge I’d done and by the end of the journey I somehow found myself signed up as ambassador for the Cateran Yomp.”
Rob had a glittering rugby career and has remained in good shape he took part in the Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon this summer but has never tackled quite such a long walk.
“I have walked 54 miles before just not in 24 hours,” he says. “I’m more used to doing that sort of distance over a few days.
“I’ll have to do quite a bit of training for it. I’m sure there will be a few blisters and a bit of pain on the day but it will also be huge fun.
“My oldest son will probably join me and then I’ve got to find a couple of mates that are around my pace who’ll do it with me.
“These things are really difficult but the key is to keep within yourself. The human body is designed to be capable of some quite tremendous feats of endurance.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9WpdLVBuZ9M
Over the last three years the Cateran Yomp has raised more than £1 million for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and the Alliance Trust Staff Foundation, which supports local projects working with disadvantaged youths.
The former is particularly close to Rob’s heart he is a doctor by profession and spent 12 years in the Royal Army Medical Corps, retiring with the rank of major in 1999.
“ABF The Soldiers’ Charity carries out invaluable work,” he says. “And it is needed more today than at any time over the last 20 years.
“Conflicts in the Middle East over the past decade, and particularly Afghanistan, have left a lot of soldiers and their families in need of support.”
As well as training to do the Yomp himself, Rob is trying to get others involved in the event.
“My job will be trying to get as many people to come out for it as possible.
“Anybody who thinks they might fancy it and even people who think they could never do it should check it out.
“It gives you something to train for and that gets you fit and healthy. It’s raising money for some fantastic causes.
“And although there will undoubtedly be a bit of pain on the day, the feeling when you cross the finish line is going to be fantastic.
“It’s a win-win-win situation.”
Visit www.soldierscharity.org/events/cateran-yompto sign up to the challenge or for more information “like” www.facebook.com/cateranyomp.