Steven 'Sid' Mackay targets NC500 tourist trail run for Cash for Kids charity in biggest challenge yet
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A FOOTBALLER turned ultra-distance adventurer is planning an extraordinary running challenge around Scotland’s most famous tourist trail.
Invergordon-raised Steven Mackay, the former Brora Rangers manager and striker, is aiming to pound out the entire North Coast 500 route in just 10 days.
Last June, Mackay succeeded in raising more than £20,000 for Moray Firth Radio’s Cash for Kids charity by running 104.8 miles non-stop from Wick to Inverness.
The year before, he completed an 80-mile dash from Inverness to Brora in around 18.5 hours, raising more than £17,000 for the same cause.
The beautiful 516-mile coastal route will be another huge stride into the unknown for gutsy ‘Sid’, pushing body and mind to extremes of endurance.
Hitting his target will require two full marathons each day, starting on Friday, May 20, but the reward could be a targeted £50,000 for the charity which, after past successes, is all the closer to his heart.
“I just want to see what’s possible, how far I can push myself,” Mackay said. “I didn’t necessarily think running from Inverness to Brora would be possible for me and then, for Wick to Inverness, I was really nervous about my chances.
“It is similar now, but I just want to see what I’m capable of.”
The 40-year-old athlete’s dedication to endurance training is all the more impressive given personal circumstances.
Long training hours compete with his assistant manager’s role at Elgin City, family commitments and a full-time career which regularly takes him from his Inverness home to Dunfermline and Manchester as operations director for an oil and gas-related firm.
Mackay has sought out advice from Brora native Luke Ivory who, incredibly, ran the North Coast 500 last year in just five days, 23 hours and four minutes.
“I take a little bit of solace in the fact it has been done previously, albeit there’s no way I’m going to match the phenomenal time of Luke who ran more than 80 miles a day,” he said.
“For me, it will be two marathons a day for 10 days – and it might be the end of me!
“It is partly trying to get my head around it. How do you train for something like this?
“I’m just trying to get miles in my legs. I’m doing a half marathon tomorrow and a marathon on Sunday. I’ll keep plodding away.
“I’ve been in contact with Luke for advice. As it stands I’m feeling okay physically, but a little bit nervous about how it will go.”
Mackay will start and finish at Inverness Castle, tackling the route anti-clockwise. As in past years, friends, team-mates and his sons Dylan (13) and Mason (8) will accompany him for stretches of the route.
He joked that a chat group for participants in his last challenge had suffered a few sudden departures on announcing the new test of endurance.
Plotting and planning with Lindsay Rose of MFR, he is aiming for a huge fundraising push with individuals and businesses who can take advantage of special sponsorship packages.
“We’ve looked at what is feasible. We’re pushing it hard this year,” he added.
“I know I’ve been a pest the last few years, encouraging people to cough up their hard-earned money, but first up, it is an amazing cause and one I believe in so much.
“I want to contribute to it as much as I can.”
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Steven Mackay back in football at Elgin after quitting Brora Rangers
