New target for Ellon man's cancer fundraiser
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An Ellon man has decided to postpone his mammoth fundraising challenge until next year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Originally planning to set off later this month, Martin Longmuir aims to run 400km and conquer two Munros for Friends of Anchor and has now pushed his start date back to spring 2021.
Having completed runs from one coastline to another to seasons for triathlons, Martin Longmuir has raised thousands for charity.
This year, he set himself another goal and planned to run 400km across some of Scotland’s most beautiful landscapes, but unfortunately he was made redundant from a local oil and gas service provider as a result of the economic impact of Covid-19 and was forced to take the decision to postpone his challenge.
He said: “I’m turning 40 this year and I wanted to do something to push myself, while raising funds at the same time.
"I’ve done some crazy challenges in the past, but this one is probably the wildest yet.
"Unfortunately, the economic impact of the global pandemic has seen me made redundant from my long-term position at an oil and gas service provider.”
Planning his route, Martin would start his journey by climbing two summits of An Teallach to complete his Munros before setting off south, crossing the Glen Shiel Ridge and heading across the mountainous terrain of the Cairngorms before landing home at Bennachie.
In total, he will spend 10 days running over 240 miles and will have climbed a total of 16,164 metres by the time he arrives back in Aberdeen.
Plans for the route remain unchanged but will just go ahead a little later than planned.
Asked why he wanted to complete this challenge, Martin said: “Unfortunately I’ve seen many people in my life fighting cancer, including my own mum.
"When I was 17 a classmate lost their battle to Leukaemia and since then I’ve been fundraising for Friends of Anchor.
“Having completed most of your standard bucket list goals, I decided to go bigger than I’ve ever done before.
"Pushing myself both physically and mentally.
"I’m so disappointed to have to delay this event, but due to things out with my control it just doesn’t seem realistic to do it this year.
“I’m relying on sponsorship from the business community to fund accommodation and transport for me and my small support team.
"With the opportunity of short term work over the planned run date I had to really think about what the right thing to do was, and right now it just didn’t seem like an option.
"I don’t want to take from anyone right now if it means that local businesses can keep operating.”
It is more than a year since Martin started training for his challenge with the help of his cousin, personal trainer Ami Murdoch.
As well as ensuring that Martin is in the best physical shape possible, she will be supporting him throughout his journey.
He said: “I was in the army so I know what it’s like to physically push myself, but this challenge is further than I’ll have pushed my body yet.
"Some days are easier than others, but I’ll be revaluating my training plan to ensure that I’m still physically and mentally fit enough, while making sure I’m not pushing my body too far and injuring myself.”
Using Instagram, on the account @2020turning40, Martin has been tracking his journey and workouts.
He has also recently launched a Virgin Money Giving page under the same name, and raised more than 80 percent of his target in one weekend.
As well as raising funds for Friends of Anchor, Martin is currently reaching out to the business community in Aberdeen hoping to identify sponsors to support with costs associated with the challenge, including travel, accommodation and supplies.
