Two days, 120 miles, £40,000: Ferry worker takes on epic Hebridean challenge after cancer takes toll on family

ALISTAIR MACPHERSON is all too aware his latest fundraising effort will push him to the limit and leave him in extreme pain.

He knows because previous challenges have left him in agony and even hallucinating.

But he’s prepared to face it all again for a remarkable run next month, crossing 10 Scottish islands in a 48-hour period.

What drives him in the bid to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support are the memories of the awful toll cancer has taken on his family. He has lost five family members, including his mother-in-law and father-in-law.

“It has really been devastating,” said Alistair, 39, who has two kids, Eilidh, 13, and Lewis, 10, with wife Donna.

“Especially for Donna, who lost both her parents, Rhoda and Donnie. It was really tough for her to go through. Three uncles also had cancer and none survived.

“There were different cancers involved, including throat, stomach and breast. It’s such a horrible thing and when Donnie was ill I wanted to do something that would raise a bit of money and awareness.”

Although he now lives in Inverness, Alistair is originally from Skye and after doing a half-marathon as a bit of a bet, he hit on his first challenge.

That was a 30-mile run for Skye Cancer Care in 2011. “I do a fair bit now but I wasn’t even much of a runner at the time,” said Alistair, who works as a steward on CalMac ferries.

“I’m certainly not built like a runner – I’m more like a darts player.”

After successfully completing the run, which raised thousands, Alistair looked to push himself even harder and hit on the idea of a 125-mile race round Skye.

Cancer Research were the beneficiaries of that challenge, which was completed in one go.

“It was the equivalent of five marathons and it took 35 hours,” said Alistair.

“The weather was horrendous and I was a bit of a mess at the end of it. But we raised £35,000.”

A couple of years later Alistair was at it again, completing a course between his birthplace on Skye to Inverness.

That was another 120-mile epic and this time it involved two days – and two nights without sleep.

It was that extreme event that resulted in the hallucinations but the £25,000 raised for Maggie’s Centres again eased the suffering.

Rather than deterring him, he vowed to tackle one final mammoth event.

The 10-island challenge will start on Vatersay and then see Alistair go to Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula, Grimsay, Berneray, North Uist, Harris and finally Skye.

It will take place over two days and cover 120 miles, starting on May 4.

Alistair and his support team have been hard at work planning for the past nine months and logistics, as much as the gruelling run itself, has been a real concern.

“We have boats and ferries we have to catch, so there is absolutely no room for error,” said Alistair. “There is definitely a level of failure and for me that’s what makes it a challenge.

“We can’t mess about and take our time at any stage. If we miss a ferry that will scupper it.” While you’d think that making the sailing connections would let him put his feet up and get some well-earned rest, that’s not the case.

Once on board he’ll get straight on to a treadmill so that he keeps running continuously.

He knows that pain and no sleep awaits, but having covered extreme distances before he insists that most of the hard work will have been done in advance. And once he’s on the start line, he’s sure he’ll finish.

The epic adventure is also being filmed with the hope of a screening on Amazon Prime.

Alistair has set himself a £10,000 target, though getting £40,000 to take his grand total to £100,000 would be his dream.

However much is raised he says he’s looking forward to a pizza, beer and sleep at the end of it – and hanging up his running shoes.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/10islandchallenge