Graeme Imrie, 29 and a Solicitor at Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace, is currently training to complete the 3 Peaks Challenge.
Graeme Imrie
The gruelling challenge involves Graeme, and 4 friends, climbing Mount Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis in just 24 Hours. The highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland respectively. That equates to a staggering 11,200 feet of climbing and over 1,000 miles of travel.
They plan to start in Wales at 9am on Friday 19th June and hope to finish by 9am at Ben Nevis on Saturday 20th June. The team of 5 consists of Graeme himself, Jamie Waterston, Sean Brosnan, Kevin Grant and Andy Ross, with a sixth friend, Jamie Watt, pulled in as the designated driver.
When asked about the reasons behind embarking on this challenge, Graeme explained, ‘We all support charitable causes and wanted to do something different to raise money. To be honest, we chose the 3 Peak Challenge because we think it will be a fun and rewarding way to spend a couple of days!’
With regard to training Graeme said, ‘We have been doing a lot of walking as a team on a mixture of terrains and have recently bagged a few Munros. Personally I have been doing a lot of running, I also play rugby for Gordonians 1st XV and take part in 5-a-side football once a week.’
Graeme continued, ‘The most daunting part is the prospect of climbing in the pitch black and we haven’t done any training for that. I guess it helps that the nights are shorter at this time of year but we have invested in some good quality head torches none the less.’
When asked if the team have a strategy for the challenge he responded, ‘No! We just plan to climb each mountain as quickly as possible and are relying heavily on our designated driver to plan our routes between mountains carefully. I guess you could say a lot of the pressure is on him because we plan to sleep when travelling in the car.’
He continued, ‘We are booked into a hotel in Aviemore on the Saturday night and I am already looking forward to putting my feet up with a cold beer once the challenge is complete. We are absolutely determined to do this and failure is just not an option!’.
For the duration of the walk Graeme plans to take over the Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace Twitter account (@RCCandW) to send updates and pictures of the team and their progress throughout the challenge.
Each of the team have chosen a charity close to their heart. Graeme is raising money for Sense Scotland, sensescotland.org.uk and chose them because of the valuable support and 24 hour assistance that they provide for one of his close relatives. .
To sponsor Graeme visit www.justgiving.com/graeme-imrie
Other charities the team will be supporting include Maggie’s and The Alzheimer’s Society.