"He ran up each mountain before running, walking, cycling or kayaking to the next one. "
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My goodness that is incredible 
I look at most things and think āIād like to have a go at thatā, then donāt.
That doesnāt look even remotely enjoyable after 1-2 days.
What an effort!!
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Bloody furlough innit
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Hell of an effort - well played sir
I looked at this and thought;
Why?
ā There were times during this that I was completely broken and I was questioning why I was doing it and what was the point.ā
A question that is left unanswered.
WHAT IS THE POINT???
ā Iāve done a lot of the Munros many times but I hadnāt done the really remote ones.ā
Okay, fair playā¦
āSome of the remote Munros were boggy and uninspiring.ā
Which brings us back to THE WHY???
ā He normally follows a plant-based diet for performance reasons but ate some dairy products on the challenge for easiness meal-wise.ā
Thatās the most amazing thing in the whole article for me.
The fact that statement isnāt in the first Paragraph is a story unto itself.
Massive yawn from me 
A monthā¦!?
Bonkers, takes some doing though, I couldnāt do it, so fair play to him.
Why do anything? Why drive up to the Lakes to splash around in a cold lake, ride your bike for a bit, run up and down a hill and then drive home again?
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Because I am not asking myself āWhy am I doing this?ā
The reason I am doing it is entertainment.
I am never left completely broken, or question why I am doing things.
The last time I questioned why, I found I no longer was enjoying myself, so took a step back and ended up doing nothing for close to five years.
Why would you do some hills that are boggy and uninspiring?
Just to tick them off a list someone has put together?
If there is another article which articulates why he did it and the support he received in the lead up and during the event and also after it, then Iād be all ears for that.
But, for me, reading that story was met with a massive āMehā
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Donnie, who finished at 5:02am today on Ben Hope, the most northerly of the Munros, said: āI was speechless. There were no words to describe how I felt.
āFinishing was something I had dreamed about for 12 months and for it to finally come true in a fastest time felt surreal.ā
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I bet the majority of people that do a marathon, Ironman or Ultra for the first time/few times have low spots where they question themselves and wonder if they will finish. Then immediately after, think āIām not fucking doing that againā, then 2 days later think āright, when is the next oneā.
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from the BBC article:
āAnd it is being hailed as the toughest challenge in the UK.ā
should add CURRENTLY. I am sure some other person can dream up any old tough challenge purely for the sake of it. I could suggest that Ross Edgeleyās swim around the UK was probably a tougher challenge than this.
hey ho
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I like the pain ā¦!?
Going to the dark placesā¦ sometimes itās fast, sometimes itās slow ā¦
I HATE the feeling of being under trained in a race, over trained can be as bad, when hobbling round Bolton last year I vowed to come back in better shape.
Thereās an ex bootneck I work with, would be all over this Scottish challenge thing, he likes fell running and adventure racing and all sorts of weird perverted stuffā¦!
Iām trying to get him to race tri, with a 10 k pb of 32ā¦ ish he would be decent, but heās not interested ā¦
Horses for courses I guess.
Most of mine Iāve finished and immediately wanted to do another one.
Iāve never finished a race and thought ānever againā
The low spots still come, theyāre just no longer about finishing.
Also, the BBC article is terrible compared to the one @r0bh postedā¦
ā¦but Iām still wondering āwhy?ā 
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Really? I find that interesting.
Iāve done so on multiple occasions. I retired from 100 milers 3 times out of 3. But iāll go back without a shadow of a doubt. I have put myself in such a hole after a race, that compliant, rational thought is way out the window!
Like I find this guys āwhyā interesting.
To me, stuff like this (and Everesting) is very much a āwhy are you doing this?ā
Self promotion?
Strava kudos?
Raising money for charity?
Or just something youāve always wanted to do, which in itself doesnāt really answer the question!
Races are just the product of a process.
First IM I hobbled the marathon.
Couldnāt walk for two weeks afterwards.
I immediately wanted to go back for redemption.
Second year I went back and took fourth place, vanquishing the demons and looked to the next (sub10ā¦) challenge
Three years in a row I failed that at Outlaw.
10:20:50, 10:20:05 and 10:16:14.
Every year at that finish line I knew there was something I could improve.
Stopped doing IM after the third one, just to focus on shorter stuff, with the world champs coming to London.
After London 2013, I was done and disillusioned with events, so stopped doing things altogether.
That was a planned hard stop, nothing to do with how I felt at the finish line (which was āwas that it?ā It was a total non-event)
After five years off, Iād got the itch again.
Did some training, entered some events.
Clitheroe finish feeling? Wrong gearing, good event.
Cotswold 113 finish line? My swim was awful, not used to mass starts, lost my bike nutrition and saddle bag on two incidents, then fell coming out of T2. Couldāve deffo been two minutes quicker with proper planning and equipment checking.
Wanted to do another.
Iāve ran a couple of thirty milers and a forty miler across canals and the Peaks and would deffo do something like that again.
Thereās always something to improve uponā¦
ā¦although in saying that, I was elated and surprised at my half marathon PB of 1:20:18, so am a bit scared to try that again 
I get your (very detailed) points above. The reason i āfind it interestingā is generally in this game of niche endurance sport - despite how ābigā it is getting, itās definitely still niche - most people tend to be of a very similar mindset, which does align with going bigger/longer/faster, not for any particular reason, but because we have this burning spirit which compels us. Certainly it does me.
Iām never going to win a race, iām nowhere near that league in any sport. But i am ādecentā at a few sports. Again, not setting the world alight, but against the general populace, sure. Some time bound targets definitely appeal (and donāt appeal at the same time - iām having a bit of internal conflict at the moment; mainly road running!!!) but then other stuff i just like to make up or find along the way. Stuff like VKs, Everesting, long runs, long races, the āroundsā etc etc.
If you asked me to specifically articulate why, i couldnāt tell you. Is it about the kudos/strava? No. But i do like to share it with my community, where we give each other encouragement, push each other, find new challenges etc. But, as with anything, there are a lot of nob rods around as well.
Is it to win? Definitely not, iām not good enough. Fact.
Is it for self promotion? Nope. Couldnāt care less what other people think. Though, as per above, i do like the community element. My best friends that i have now are almost all into this stuff. Some old friends, some new. I do have some ānormalā mates still though, to keep my feet on the ground.
Is it because i can? In a way, yes i suppose so. I like to push myself, i donāt know wht drives it, but i want to see what i can cope with physically and mentally. I definitely harbour a fear of failure deep in my psyche somewhere, as i have a tendency to undercook myself or enter stuff woefully unprepared. Thatās the only reason i can think of anyway. But i have been to some deep places in my races so far. Places where i very much questioned why i was doing it. But i like to know that i can get out of those dark places. it gives me confidence, i guess in life. That i do have that grit when i need it.
Is it because i fear sedentaryism (if thatās a word)? Deep down, probably a bit, yes. Iām naturally very lazy, which most people i meet just canāt get their head around/believe due to my hobbies. So i guess iām trying to keep that everfire topped up with fuel, to make sure it never goes out completely.
The few times iāve committed everything, itās gone wrong somewhere (sub 75 attempt, London Mara 2017). Maybe, deep down, thatās why iāve gravitated to longer, off road stuff. Itās much, much harder to āfailā, at least in my eyes.
Not sure that answers a question, or poses more. Or is just a rambling ode to my ill prepared and presented thoughts on the topic on a grey Thursday morning.
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likewise
getting out and doing things ensures I donāt sit and vegetate
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Iām with you on that. I am the lazyest person on the planet it has to be said, but when it comes to keeping fit and undertaking the odd challenge, enough said.
I am always in awe of people who question, people who push (probably like most or probably all of us here).
I am possibly slightly vain, I sometimes know that what I do might f* up some part of my body, in fact dicing with death, but when compared with most of my beer drinking sedentary friends, I like it that at 56 I am slim and healthy, and donāt have a 20st beer gut.
Community is also important to me, like minded souls, comradeship, sharing the highs and the lows.
Iām not sure whether Iāve had the thoughts of ānever doing x againā either. For me end of race is usually jubilation and celebration, followed by āahhhnhh, if I hadnāt have had that hot cross bun yesterday at 1400, I wouldnāt have needed a shit and associated faffing halfway thru this ironman today, and would not have lost 1/2 hour, so I am so angry with myself and know I can do better next timeā¦bring it on!ā
Funny old world, eh?
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Yeah a friend and i were talking about this the other day. heās a few years older than me (mid 40s, iām mid 30s) and one of hs mates from school had a heart attack. Mainly because heās fat and lazy, but doesnāt think he is. I donāt want people to look up to me a) iām too short and b) thatās not in my nature, but i do want to be the guy that can sprint across a road in time to save his kid from doing something stupid, or push the limits to inspire my kids (or my friendās kids) to know that anything is possible, and being an adult doesnāt mean boring and lazy/too busy.
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