3#03 Jamie Aarons: the fastest Munroist in history
“Underpinning it all was this ridiculously amazing team behind me… two years of planning was spent gathering an army of friends and strangers.”
00:00 - Introduction.
03:14 - Welcome, fastest ever self-propelled Munro record, “it’s all still a bit surreal”, feeling “quite lethargic, a little less narcoleptic”, falling asleep during meals, an overview of the challenge.
07:40 - Sleeping “considerably less” than four hour a night, the skill of “micronaps” for periods as little as 60 seconds.
11:24 - A 2,576km route… and other stats, “the terrain isn’t conveyed in those stats - not every kilometre is equal… the most efficient route was to connect many hills in ways that are not commonly done (or never done)”. An “incredibly special” challenge.
14:04 - What does it take to complete such a challenge? The “glimmer of maybe”. A lifetime of building endurance. The enjoyment of the planning, spreadsheets, friends and logistics, “coming to grips with new aspects of Excel”.
17:20 - “Underpinning it all was knowing that I had this ridiculously amazing team behind me… that two years of planning was gathering an army of friends and strangers”.
18:12 - Gathering supporters. A hiking challenge, not a running one, a “continuously putting one foot in front of the other challenge”. An overview of the support involved.
22:20 - “Lots of chat… it was about sharing time on the hills with friends old and new… it’s a lot easier to take a 60 second nap when there’s someone hovering over you, waiting to wake you up”.
23:20 - “Even before we started we’d made what I knew were lifelong friendships through the planning. Even if we hadn’t been successful, there’s success in finding these kindred spirits of cyclists and hillwalkers”.
26:40 - The sport of “dot watching Jamie”... “a bit overwhelming, but incredibly motivating”.
28:28 - Growing up as a competitive swimmer, life in California, University in Chicago, living in New Zealand’s South Island, moving to Scotland in 2005. Starting a career in social work.
31:00 - Praising the “right to roam”, being an “outdoors person
35:30 - “I never ran growing up, I hated it with a bit of a passion”, building up the tenacity and endurance to win ultra races. Running the West Highland Way in a day because it wasn’t clear if it were possible or not.
38:43 - Comparing ultra-running and social work.
42:00 - Greatest Mountain Memory: on the challenge, in the Fannichs with friends, inspiring a daughter’s 13-year-old daughter to “storm ahead”, “it so reflected in that moment what I’d hoped to create in the challenge… it brought tears to my eyes then”.
45:50 - All the time, money, freedom… where would you go and what would you do? Getting into bike-packing, using the bike to enable travel abroad. Raising money for World Bicycle Relief and seeing their work.
47:25 - How can someone break this record? “I don’t doubt the record will be broken by someone that can move over ground more efficiently… but what we’ve greatest otherwise is here to stay”.
48:55 - Future plans: being a “dedicated support person for the short to medium-term… I’m literally not allowed to say no”.
(below) Portrait photography by David Lintern.