- The Guardian,
- Wednesday June 11 2003
The Caledonian Challenge is all about milestones - 54 of them, to be exact. But during the midsummer weekend of June 21-22, the event is due to pass a most significant mark when the walkers taking part raise an expected £1m for Scotland's smaller and less fashionable charities and community groups.
The State Street Caledonian Challenge, to give it its official title, takes in much of the West Highland Way - at least, the most rugged and spectacular part, from Fort William to Loch Lomond. This year's is the seventh annual event and it is so popular that entries have had to be capped at 1,600 in the interests of the famous footpath.
That so many people volunteer to cover 54 miles on foot in 24 hours is remarkable in itself. Even more so is the composition of the walkers and where the majority of them come from. The Scottish Community Foundation (SCF), which organises the challenge, has revealed that 65% of the entrants will travel to Fort William from south-east England, many from London. An even higher proportion will come from the corporate sector.
Much of the credit for this goes to David Fox-Pitt, the event director. Last year, he made 160 presentations to office workers - 100 in London. "We realised that leaflets didn't work; people don't read them," he says. "You have to see people, you have to meet them, enthuse about it and answer their questions. I don't glamorise it. I tell people how it is. I warn them that, without adequate training, they will have a weekend from hell, and I do put some people off."
This year, there have been fewer presentations, but to bigger audiences: more than 850 have attended 90 sessions. "The number one reason for people wanting to do the challenge is the location," says Fox-Pitt, an ex-army man. "People want to see the beautiful Highlands, and that's what we sell. Raising money is secondary for most people, we know that. It's primary for us, however. But people want challenges these days and it would appear that the tougher it seems, the more people want to do it."
Kanesh Lakhani is one of the London-based participants and is returning this year for his third challenge. "For me, it's the most spectacular part of the British Isles," says Lakhani, head of marketing at State Street Bank. "I'm not a serious walker, and I didn't really know what I'd let myself in for the first time I did it. But it's a serious challenge and when you ask people to sponsor you, you do start to feel a responsibility. Because the Scottish Community Foundation is not a charity that people have heard of, especially in London, you have to explain what it does. It targets small, low-profile organisations, who don't have the resources to raise this sort of money.
"The challenge itself becomes a mental rather than a physical battle. I'm one of the slow ones, taking about 20 hours, so I walk through the night. Last year, I swore there was no way I was going back. But here I am."
Tamzin Hobday has also taken up the challenge before. Two years ago, while working in London, she heard a Fox-Pitt presentation and persuaded 11 colleagues to join her. "He doesn't pretend it's a walk in the park," she says. "And being superfit doesn't necessarily get you round. But he did also communicate the sense of achievement people would feel if they did it. I'm now aware of its reputation growing."
Peter Orr, a 34-year-old Edinburgh lawyer, has been the quickest over the course in each of the past three years, covering the 54 miles in between nine and 10 hours. "The Caledonian Challenge comes around at just the right time," he says, "because it takes about a year to forget the pain."
The event has not always followed the same format. In the first one, in 1997, 17 walkers attempted 32 Munros (peaks higher than 3,000ft) over four days. Only one entrant finished: Fox-Pitt. The 54-mile walk is still a tough propositioner; last year, about a third of those who started failed to complete. Looking forward to this year's event, Fox-Pitt says cheerily: "Some people will have a nightmare."
For the SCF, the extraordinary success of the challenge has proved a godsend. Last year, it raised £970,000; the year before, £885,000. "We're in a very lucky position, a privileged position," says Giles Ruck, the foundation's chief executive. "We now have very good connections with the financial centres of Edinburgh and London, and for a lot of the biggest companies it has become an important team-building exercise."
Some companies, including event sponsors State Street, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, enter as many as 50 teams - upwards of 200 individuals. And many offer to match the funds raised by their employees. They, in turn, continue spilling from the financial centres of London and Edinburgh to brave the blisters, the possibility of trench foot, the certainty of midges, not to mention the inevitable, but painful, chaffing around the nether regions.
As Ruck says, the Caledonian Challenge has become a phenomenon. "It's bizarre, really," he sighs. "I can't really explain it."
On the receiving end
The biggest single beneficiary of the money raised by the Caledonian Challenge is the West Highland Way itself, with some £15,000 a year allocated to maintenance work on the footpath used for the walk.
Otherwise, the money raised by walkers is distributed by the Scottish Community Foundation (SCF) among small charities and community groups in grants of up to £5,000.
One past recipient is the Drumchapel Adventure Group, a community-led organisation in Glasgow providing outdoor activities for people suffering the effects of deprivation. It received £2,800 towards junior mountain bikes, clothing and helmets.
"The sort of things we do appealed to the Scottish Community Foundation," says Archie Waters, project leader at the group. "It's good that the Caledonian Challenge can filter benefits back to those who might not get the chance to do an event like that. We know what the activities we organise can do in building confidence and self-esteem; it's a stress release, it connects people with new experiences in what, for many, is a new environment."
Giles Ruck, SCF chief executive, wants to maintain the success of the challenge but aims to do more to highlight the work of the organisations supported by the event.
"We're looking at ways to connect up the community groups," says Ruck. "If they can be involved directly in the Caledonian Challenge, that's great. They can help over the weekend, and be paid, or receive money for their organisation. A lot of the groups and individuals might be unlikely to do the challenge, but there are other ways they can be involved - and we try to encourage that."
