It is one of world’s most gruelling classic endurance challenges with a combined ascent almost as high as Mount Everest.
But a 39-year-old father of three has broken the record for the notorious Ramsay’s Round, running and climbing some of Scotland’s most imposing mountains.
The challenge takes in 24 Lochaber peaks across 58 miles with a total climb of around 28,500ft. Banavie runner Esmond Tresidder set off from Glen Nevis at 3am on July 6 in a tortuous trail that takes in Ben Nevis, the Aonachs, the Grey Corries, the Easains and the Mamores.
Not only did Mr Tresidder complete the route, he ran it in a blistering time of 16 hours, 12 minutes, 32 seconds, narrowly beating the previous record, set by Jasmin Paris from Penicuik, Midlothian, in 2016, by just 81 seconds.
He set both a new summer and an outright record. Mr Tresidder, a PassivHaus eco-friendly house designer, said: “It was very tough, but I was expecting it to be.
“I originally planned to start at 3am so that any darkness could be early on and going uphill so it didn’t slow me down too much, but then the weather was bad the day before and wasn’t forecast to clear properly until later.
“I attempted it once, in winter, on skis, unsupported and largely on sight. I got as far as Fersit Dam going clockwise before bailing in a storm. “I wasn’t on sub-24 hour schedule but it was an amazing experience.
“This time I was going the other direction, in summer, without skis but with support.
“I’ve had it in mind for a long time, but my list of potential projects is quite long.
“I’ve been thinking about it properly for a couple of years now, pretty much since moving here in 2016. I wanted to try it last autumn but I didn’t feel fit enough.
“Some of the route I know really well as they are my local hills, but the hills further east are quite remote and I never normally run in them.”
Mr Tresidder, a one-time record holder for the Cuillin Ridge on Skye, was paced along one section by former record holder Ms Paris.
He said: “Running the final bit along the Grey Corries with Jasmin pacing was really special.
“The running is so good there and I was feeling good enough to still enjoy it, and she was admirably focused on helping me go as fast as I could.
“And the final sprint finish to the bridge was memorable, if a little too close for comfort.
“It was hard work going down the Ben. The whole way, the pace just seemed completely audacious.
“This sort of distance is new to me and I was surprised at how fast I was having to go to match Jasmin’s splits.
“I was within a few minutes of her splits all day which was really stressful but also really exciting and kind of cool.
“Setting off I really wasn’t confident I’d do it at all.
“I was hopeful I could have a strong performance, and I thought if I did that I might have a shot at the record, but there was a big element of doubt which kept things exciting.
“During the run the only place I was confident I’d get the record was on the summit of Ben Nevis when I was nine minutes up on Jasmin’s time.
“But then the descent was hard work in the dark.”
- READ MORE: English millionaire's 'bizarre' £12m bid for mountain to create Scotland's Mount Rushmore
Mr Tresidder ran up to 50 miles a week in his training and ate around 300 calories an hour during the challenge, “which sounds easy but actually very hard when you are running”.
Originally, all 24 summits on the Ramsay Round were Munros, but Sgorr an Iubhair was declassified as a Munro in 1997.
The route was devised by Charlie Ramsay from Edinburgh, and a member of Lochaber Athletic Club, as an extension to an existing 24-hour walking route. His completion created Scotland’s Classic Mountain Marathon.
Mr Tresidder is raising money for the replacement of his local children’s playground and environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here