Woman breaks record for scaling all of Scotland's Munro mountains
Jamie Aarons smashed the record by more than 12 hours
Last updated 27th Jun 2023
A woman has set a new record for scaling all of Scotland's Munros - with her efforts raising money for charity.
Jamie Aarons, 43, finished in 31 days 10 hours and 27 minutes, smashing the previous record for a self-propelled challenge by more than 12 hours.
This saw Ms Aarons - who is originally from California but moved to Scotland in 2005 - run, cycle or kayak between each of the Munros - Scottish mountains with a height of more than 3,000 feet.
Starting at Ben More on the Isle of Mull on 26th May, Ms Aarons, a social work adviser for the Scottish Government, covered a momentous 2576.52 kilometres.
Some shift
Over the course of the challenge she ascended 135,366 metres - the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest 16 times, as she travelled around 1,315 kilometres on foot, 830 kilometres by road bike, 370 kilometres on a mountain bike and 49km on her gravel bike, as well as 11.6 kilometres by kayak.
Sleeping an average of just four hours a day throughout the challenge, she managed to complete 14 Munros within 24 hours on Wednesday 7th June.
The record had previously been held by former marine Donnie Campbell, from Skye, who completed a similar challenge in 31 days, 23 hours and two minutes in 2020.
She climbed her final Munro, Ben Klibreck, in Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands, at 4.57pm on Monday.
All for a good cause
Speaking before her ascent, she said: "My journey will take me across the length and breadth of Scotland, across sea and lochs, from remote glens to the highest point in the United Kingdom; and across more miles of bog than I care to think about."
As well as breaking the record for the Munro challenge, she has also raised money for World Bicycle Relief.
The charity provides bikes to children in poorer nations, allowing them to ride to school as well as helping them get to health clinics and markets.
Ms Aarons said raising the cash would help to "motivate me through the tough miles", with the athlete having raised £14,000 for the charity - more than double her initial target of £6,000.
She now hopes to raise £30,000.