Newcomers Team Shannoch beat Begbies Traynor and Bank of Scotland to take the honours at Great Glen Challenge 2022
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Team Shannoch have been crowned winners of RSABI’s Great Glen Challenge 2022 after battling it out against 16 other teams to take home the trophy.
Returning for the first time since 2019, this year’s Great Glen Challenge welcomed a total of 85 competitors from the Scottish and UK agricultural and rural business sector.
Teams of four, plus a support driver, completed the course from Fort Augustus to Benavie by Fort William in four stages – 46km mountain biking, 6km kayaking, 18km walking and 17km running.
Newcomers Team Shannoch, from Perthshire, put in a strong showing across the four sports, with Robin More coming fourth in the mountain biking, Rebecca Drummond coming in joint third in the walking stage, Claire Black taking third place in running and Scott Drummond taking first place in the kayaking, despite never having been in a kayak before.
Second place was taken by the team from Begbies Traynor, with Ken Pattullo coming first in the walking stage and Lawrence O’Hara putting in an impressive time to win the running stage as he did when the event was last held in 2019.
Coming in third was the B Team from Bank of Scotland, who were helped to the bronze medal by Phil Reid’s win in the mountain biking stage and Stewart McNaughton’s second place in the walking.
The For Our Growers team from Agrovista UK are currently the team who have raised most funds with their total sitting at a fantastic sum of over £4,400.
The results for the different sections of the event were as follows:
Mountain bike - 1 Phil Reid (The B Team); 2 James Towers (Galbraith Gazelles) and 3 Seamus Murphy (SAC Basic Subscription).
Kayaking - 1 Scott Drummond (Team Shannoch); 2 David Findlay (Commission Commandos) and 3 Christian Ramsey (Johnston Carmichael).
Walk - 1 Ken Pattullo (Begbies Traynor) and 2 Stewart McNaughton (The B Team).
Run - 1 Lawrence O'Hara (Begbies Traynor); 2 William Fettes (For Our Growers) and 3 Claire Black (Team Shannoch).
To date, teams have raised an impressive sum of almost £28,000.
RSABI’s chairperson David Leggat said: “We had the most amazing day at our Great Glen Challenge 2022, particularly special because this is the 125th year of RSABI.
"I’d like to thank the 85 competitors who took part and gave it their all.
"It was a thrilling competition, a very sporting occasion and it was wonderful to see everyone back.
"The atmosphere on the day was just fantastic, no doubt helped by the weather, and a lot of new friendships have been made.
“We’ve had amazing support from our main sponsor United Auctions, and thanks go to George Purves for coming to Fort William to present our prizes.
"Thanks also go to our event partners Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Retties who have given us great support and our media partners The Scottish Farmer who have been very supportive and given us great coverage.
“I’d like to thank everyone who helped us stage the Great Glen, particularly our stewards, marshals and staff team.
"We had around 20 volunteers involved on the day and in the lead up and sincere thanks go to all – we really couldn’t do it without you.
“A fantastic sum has been raised so far by the Great Glen Challenge. Funds raised will help us provide vital emotional, practical and financial support to people in Scottish agriculture, including Help for Heating grants, support to access counselling, and our Freephone Helpline – 0808 1234 555 – which is now open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.”
Managing director of United Auctions George Purves said: “We’re proud to be the main sponsors of the RSABI’s Great Glen Challenge this year.
"The achievements of the teams both on the course and in their fundraising efforts have made a vital contribution towards the RSABI’s support for agricultural communities in these increasingly difficult times.
“We’re also pleased to sponsor the #Challenge125, which has helped our staff achieve many physical personal goals.
"Extending this fun initiative to December will allow more people to get involved with this important cause - and reap the health and wellbeing benefits.”
RSABI’s Great Glen Challenge is sponsored by United Auctions, and is also supported by event partners Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Retties with The Scottish Farmer as media partner.
