‘From the track to the top of the world’: Pharmacology student hitting new heights with fundraiser
A GCU student is heading to Mount Everest for the final challenge of his charity fundraiser.
As part of his Miles and Mountains for MS (Multiple Sclerosis Society) campaign, final year Pharmacology student Callan Wilson has already ran a marathon, an ultramarathon and conquered Morrocco’s Mount Toubkal.
On 7 May he will fly to Nepal for the fourth and final part of his journey, as he takes on the iconic Mount Everest in a bid to raise more money.
We sat down with Callan to find out more about the inspiration behind it, and how challenging it’s been completing it alongside the demands of his final year.
The idea
“I was always planning on going to Everest Base Camp after university because I really wanted to do it. I enjoy hiking and I’ve completed loads of Munros. Everyone goes to Ibiza after uni, but I just wanted to do something a bit rogue – when else would you go to Nepal?!
“I thought doing Everest Base Camp wasn’t impressive enough on its own – I knew I could do a lot more and the timing all fitted in quite well.”
Fundraising
“For my dissertation you could either do lab work or a written piece; I opted for the written piece because I wanted to show that I can understand drugs and treatment. I focused on MS and learned about what a debilitating disease it can be. My friend’s dad also has it, so it was something I was aware of.
“My final year has been intense, so I only started thinking about the challenge properly in February. Once I had mentioned about going to Everest loads of people were then asking if I was raising money for it - I just felt it was a good idea to raise funds for the MS Society after learning a bit about it. I wanted to do all these different challenges anyway because they’ve been on my bucket list, but I just thought that I may as well also raise money for the charity in the process.
“In two weeks I had raised £1000, which was just incredible. The charity match 25% so I would really like to raise a bit more to help them out.”
The Challenge
“Miles and Mountains and the order I’ve done them all really build on each other fitness wise. It’s not been too expensive to prep because I already had a lot of the stuff from previously running and from climbing Munros.
“Fourth year has been pretty intense, so it’s been good for me to take a break and get out in the fresh air to do my running. I basically wanted to see how far I could push myself and help others in the process.”
Marathon (3 March)
“I ran it around a track for practicality reasons and I also knew it would make it harder mentally for me. I knew I wouldn’t have anyone to drop off supplies so just decided to go for it on my own with my energy gels etc at the side.
“I ran it in 3 hours 32 minutes, which was faster than I meant but it was good to get it done. I just kept going throughout because I knew I’d been telling people about it so there was a bit of pressure on me!”
Mount Toubkal (13 March)
“I climbed Mount Toubkal, which is the highest mountain in North Africa at 4167m. We flew into Marrakesh and then we got a guide and went up to a village called Imlal. Anything above 3500m is when you tend to face the challenges of altitude, so the night before we couldn’t sleep and our heads were really sore.
“We then got up at 2am to reach the summit in the morning. The sunrise was unbelievable – just an amazing sight. What was more impressive was the fact that our guides were doing it during Ramadan and weren’t even drinking water! They were really good and properly looked after us with all of our meals.
“The whole experience was just amazing. I didn’t know what to expect because I’d never been to Africa before but the food and scenery was incredible.”
Ultra Marathon (9 April)
“My training for it was basically Zone 2 running every single day between 8km and 16km. The only downside was having to eat so many carbohydrates to make sure I was properly fuelled – I felt nakard all the time!”
“I basically ran round the whole of Edinburgh, which is 53km. An Ultra Marathon is anything over 50km, so I just made it in. That works out at 10 metres of running for every metre of elevation at Everest Base Camp.
“I completed it in 4 hours and 52 minutes. I was running with one of my friends, Scott, who hadn’t done too much training. I had to get one of my other friends to come and join me for the last 15km. It got hard probably about 37km in and my running form changed, but I managed to get through it.”
Everest (7 May)
“I fly on 7 May from Edinburgh to Istanbul and then on to Nepal. We start on the 9th by flying to Lukla, which is the world’s most dangerous airport – apparently it’s tiny!
“It’s then a 12-day trek to Everest Base Camp, which is 5364 metres. That includes two days of acclimatisation and five days to come back down. It’s insane that just getting to Everest Base Camp is more than the whole of Mount Toubkal. At about 3500 metres there’s actually the World’s highest pub, so we might stop in there!
I’m actually doing it with two guys from Australia that I met while doing Exchange in Canada. They’ve been in Japan snowboarding, so I’m not sure how ready they will be for the whole experience, but it will be a lot of fun!”
Future
“I’m signing up for a half IRONMAN in Azerbaijan in September, but that’s not going to be part of the fundraiser. The whole experience and visiting places like Morroco and Nepal has definitely made me feel more open to travelling and making memories. I really want to experience new cultures and see what my body is capable of.”
You can donate to Callan’s Miles and Mountains challenge here
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk