A SCOTTISH aid worker is planning to become the first woman to run the 95-mile West Highland Way non-stop in midwinter.
Caroline McKay, 33, will set off from Fort William on Friday, December 16 and aims to reach the end of the route at Milngavie within 24 hours.
She hopes her ground-breaking run will raise at least £2,000 to support to support young girls in Ethiopia attend school.
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She works for Edinburgh charity Link Community Development which provides educational support in sub-Saharan Africa, and has seen first hand the challenges African girls face going to school.
She said: “Over the last decade a handful of men have completed the run non-stop in the winter, but if I do it I will be first woman.
“But running 95 miles non-stop in a Scottish winter is nothing compared to the challenges that young girls in Ethiopia face on a daily basis, just to go to school.
“I recently visited some rural schools in the Wolaita region in Southern Ethiopia."
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She continued: "The girls I met there will often risk real danger to get an education.
"They really inspired me.
“They risk sexual assault and harassment on a daily basis but are willing take that risk to get an education.
"They are the real heroes.”
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