276-mile race in aid of rescuers

CHALLENGE . . . Iain Airth and David Wyatt with chair of the OMRT Matt Torr, centre

AN ambitious Oldham man is recovering after taking part in "Britain's most brutal" challenge.

Saddleworth-based David Wyatt (43) undertook the gruelling 276-mile Montane Spine Race in aid of Oldham Mountain Rescue Team (OMRT).

While he set off to run the entirety of the "boggy and muddy" Pennine Way his team mate Iain Airth (45) had booted up for the Mountain Rescue Team Challenger (MRT), an 108-mile-role route to be completed in under 60 hours.

So far their outstanding efforts have drummed up more than £600 for OMRT - a team of volunteers who save lives through their mountain and cave rescue work.

The teams running costs total £30,000 annually including their four vehicles and operating from their two bases.

David began the international Spine Race competition in Edale and gradually navigated his way to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish borders where he finished 24th.

He said: "It took me just under six days. In that time I slept for 12 in chunks of up to three-and-a-half hours.

"The toughest part was the start - it was raining and there was snow on the ground.

"That together with the mental aspect of having so much ahead of you was the low point.

"I'm still half a stone lighter than when I started despite eating continuously for four days."

David finished the race alongside a fellow runner on Saturday January 21. He was one of only 63 to finish out of 113 starters.

The web developer ran distances of between 70 and 100 miles in the Lake District and Northumberland as training.

OMRT medical chair Iain from Hyde also set off from Edale and was on the go for almost two full days before reaching his destination of Hawes, North Yorkshire.

He said: "It was treacherous underfoot.

"I was hallucinating a bit by the end which is unnerving but I was really pleased with how it went, especially finishing more than one hour faster than my time last year."

Chair of OMRT Matt Torr said: "The two events have been described as being exquisitely brutal due to their unique combination of distance, sleep deprivation, difficult and mountainous terrain and severe winter weather."

Donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/OMRT-SpineTeam2017.