Highland Cross

Last updated

The Highland Cross is an annual charity race, established in 1983, across the Scottish Highlands by foot and bicycle from Morvich, Kintail in the west through Glen Affric and Strathglass to Beauly in the east. Although it is known as a duathlon , it does not use the three part, run-bike-run, format of the athletic event of this name governed by the International Triathlon Union. [1]

Contents

The 50-mile duathlon (20 miles on foot, 30 miles on bicycle) is a sponsored race between teams of three to raise funds for causes that benefit local Highland people disadvantaged by disability, ill health or social need. [2] In 2019, 735 competitors started the race, all but five completed it, and among the volunteers assisting were grandchildren of some of the original volunteers. [3]

History

The Highland Cross began in 1983 as "the Midsummer Madathon" initiative by the Inverness branch office of the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund in the Northern Fire Brigade to raise funds for the Highland Scanner Appeal. [4] It became an annual event in 1989 and now comprises 265 teams of three allocated by ballot. The event raises money each year for Highland causes; by 2019 the total raised was £5.3 million. [5]

Winners

Related Research Articles

Triathlon Swimming, cycling, and distance running

A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included. The word is of Greek origin, from τρεῖς or treis (three) and ἆθλος or athlos (competition).

London Marathon

The London Marathon is an annual marathon event held in London, United Kingdom. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April. The largely flat course is set around the River Thames, starting in Blackheath and finishing at The Mall. Hugh Brasher is the current Race Director and Nick Bitel its Chief Executive.

Forres Town in Scotland

Forres is a town and former royal burgh situated in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately 25 miles northeast of Inverness and 12 mi (19 km) west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There are many geographical and historical attractions nearby such as the River Findhorn, and there are many historical artifacts and monuments within the town itself, like Brodie Castle, home of the Brodie Clan.

Duathlon

Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally.

Aquathlon

An aquathlon is a multisport race consisting of continuous run and swim elements. Competitors complete a swim immediately followed by a run over various distances. Athletes compete for fastest overall course completion, including the time transitioning between the disciplines.

Lands End to John o Groats

Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is 874 miles (1,407 km) and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record for running the route is nine days. Off-road walkers typically walk about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) and take two or three months for the expedition. Signposts indicate the traditional distance at each end.

Alastair Humphreys is an English adventurer, author and motivational speaker. Over a four-year period he bicycled 46,000 miles (74,000 km) around the world. He was a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012. He is responsible for the rise of the idea of the microadventure – short, local, accessible adventures.

Emma Pooley

Emma Jane Pooley is an English sportswoman and former presenter on the Global Cycling Network. A former professional cyclist who specialised in time trials and hilly races, she later transferred to endurance running, duathlon and triathlon, and is currently a professional triathlete and duathlete, and the reigning quadruple world champion in long-distance duathlon.

Jason P. Lester American endurance athlete

Jason P. Lester is an endurance athlete, the author of the book Running on Faith, and the 2009 ESPY Award winner for Best Male Athlete with a Disability. He is the first disabled athlete to complete the Ultraman World Championships. He is the Founder of EPIC5 Challenge, EP1CMAN and The NEVER STOP Foundation est. 2007.

RideLondon, known through sponsorship as Prudential RideLondon, is an annual festival of cycling held in London. It was developed by the Mayor of London, London and Partners and Transport for London in partnership with Surrey County Council, and is managed by London & Surrey Cycling Partnership.

Powerman Duathlon

Powerman Duathlons are duathlon events that are competed over middle distance to long distance duathlons across the globe at both Age Group and Elite level. All events are draft illegal allowing competitors to compete utilising time trial or triathlon bikes following the Powerman and ITU race regulations

Lukas Verzbicas is an American triathlete. A prominent high school track and cross country runner, Verzbicas holds the U.S. high school national record in the 2 mile with a time of 8:29.46. In this race at the 2011 Prefontaine Classic he set the high school 3200 meter record 8:25.65 hand-timed and the high school 3000 meter record 7:54.71 hand-timed [video: https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=videos&year=2011&event_id=120&video_id=48108]. Even with FAT timing no other high school athlete has surpassed Lukas 2011 Prefontaine Classic marks for the 3k-3200-2mile distances. He was also the fifth of only twelve American high school boys to run a sub four-minute mile, running 3:59.71 at the end of his senior year of high school.

Dave McGillivray

Dave McGillivray is a U.S.-based road race director, philanthropist, author, and athlete. In 1978, he ran across the U.S. to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is currently the race director of the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) Boston Marathon and his team at DMSE Sports, Inc. have organized more than 1,000 mass-participatory endurance events since he founded the organization in 1981.

Chris Mosier American triathlete (born 1980)

Chris Mosier is an American transgender advocate and triathlete. He started his athletic career before transitioning, started his transition in 2010, and in 2015 earned a spot on the Team USA sprint duathlon men's team for the 2016 World Championship, making him the first known out trans athlete to join a U.S. national team different from his sex at birth.

Luke McKenzie

Luke Jarrod McKenzie is an Australian professional triathlete who specializes in long distance, non-drafting triathlon events. In 2013 he took second place at the Ironman World Championship.

Team In Training

Team In Training (TNT) is the flagship fundraising program for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. TNT is the only endurance sports training program where volunteers train to complete a marathon, half marathon, cycle event, triathlon or hike adventure, while fundraising to support the fight against blood cancers.

Lucy Gossage is a British triathlete and duathlete who competes in Ironman Triathlon events. She has twice been the European duathlon champion, and has won multiple Ironman Triathlon events.

Peter Ellis (duathlete) British duathlete

Peter Ellis is a British Elite Age Group duathlete from The New Forest, England. Competing at Elite level he is a four time Powerman Duathlon World Series Age Group race winner with wins in Gothenburg, Michigan and Hawaii, securing further podium finishes in Putrajaya, Panama City and Arizona. He finished the 2016 Powerman World Series in 29th, 2017 in 7th, 2018 in 11th and 2019 in 2nd reaching a World ranking of 2nd in June 2019. Selected by British Triathlon to compete for the Great Britain Elite team at the ETU European Elite middle distance duathlon Championships Copenhagen and St Wendel, the ASTC Asian Elite middle distance duathlon Championships Putrajaya, and the ITU World Elite long distance duathlon championships Powerman Zofingen.

Edwina Brocklesby is the founder and director of Silverfit, a charity dedicated to the promotion of the health benefits of physical activity for older people. and triathlete.

Alex Yee is a British professional triathlete.

References

  1. ↑ International Triathlon Union. "Duathlon". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. ↑ "Highland Cross". www.highlandcross.co.uk.
  3. ↑ Macaulay, Susy (24 June 2019). "Organiser of 37th Highland Cross declares event a huge success as competitors raise £300,000 for charity". Press and Journal. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "Highland Cross". www.highlandcross.co.uk.
  5. ↑ White, Gregor (27 November 2019). "Five charities benefit from Highland Cross duathlon". Inverness Courier. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Highland Cross". www.highlandcross.co.uk.
Flag of Scotland.svg

This Scotland-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.