Inverness dads Raymond Sutherland and Ian Lonnen to take on running and cycling challenge to Perth to raise funds for daughter’s gymnastics club

Two dads will be taking on a mammoth challenge this summer to raise money for Inverness Gymnastics Club.

Raymond Sutherland and Ian Lonnen will be running the equivalent of three marathons, and cycling two more between Inverness and Perth at the beginning of July .

It is the brainchild of Sutherland, who has done endurance challenges before in aid of MFR’s Cash For Kids, completing 10 marathons in five days in 2023 and doing two marathons in under 11 hours in 2022 alongside Steven Mackay.

This will be a slightly different scale, though, as he does not expect to make it between the two cities inside a day.

“I’ve never done anything through the night, so when I sat down at the start and had a think about what I could do, I thought the more out there it is the better,” he explained.

“It gets people’s interest, and I had heard of people running from Inverness to Perth, but nobody running and cycling.

“In my head, in an ideal world, I think I can do it in 26 hours. I’ve broken it down into a marathon time and cycling time, and I’ll have a support vehicle which my wife Sandie will be driving.

“It also gives me 20 minutes to half an hour to get something to eat and change clothes in between, and get going again. I won’t be stopping to rest or sleep, I’ll be doing it in one go.

“When I joined Steven three years ago, it was at midnight in Golspie, and I can remember that between midnight at 3am he really struggled. I’ve got that in my head as an experience I can learn from. I think during the night will be tough, but when the sun comes up I think I will get a wee boost, and hopefully be able to carry on.

“When it comes to stuff like this, I think it’s all in your head. You can get to a certain level of fitness, but after that it’s all mental. If you can get on top of that, and not buckle under the pressure, I think I’ll be absolutely fine.”

Sutherland was inspired to raise money for Inverness Gymnastics Club after seeing the impact it has had on his daughter Aria over the years.

She started attending the club when she was two, and she will turn nine around the time of Raymond’s challenge.

In fact, Aria has proven to be inspirational in a number of ways – with her joy at attending the club being infectious, but also dad wanting to set an example for his daughter.

“She was recently at a competition in Edinburgh and won a medal, and you just can’t beat the look on her face when she gets a medal,” Raymond said.

“It’s not about winning though, it teaches them discipline and structure. She loves it, and we can see the person it’s shaping her into as well.

“When I go and watch her at the Aquadome every Wednesday, I see how much work the coaches put in. They’re there two hours before to set up, and two hours afterwards to take everything down.

“I’ve met with the coach a couple of times, and it’s a full time job – non-stop. I want to try and give something back to them for the effort that the coaches put in.

“I also want to make my daughter proud of me. I want her to remember that I went and did this, and I suppose it’s about setting an example.”

• Contribute to the fundraiser here

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