Page 37 - RADC 2023

SPORT & AT
The Cateran Yomp 2023:
From Cyprus to the
Cairngorms, Scotland
Cpl Abigail Robinson
Cateran Yomp 2023, the year I decided to challenge myself.
A 54-mile hike within 24 hours around the Scottish Cairngorms on the Cateran Trail;
to me, weirdly sounded like bliss. The event has three checkpoints. Bronze (22 miles), Silver (36 miles) or Gold (54 miles) each with a couple of water stops in between. The countryside is not something I’d think I’d miss when posted overseas, but this year I yearned for it, and what a sight I had to see!
Raising funds for ABF The Soldiers Charity and hearing inspirational stories from those that had benefitted from the charity, were all had stark reminders as to why we were there.
I travelled solo from Episkopi to London Luton, then on to Edinburgh, joining ‘the Catterick Yompers 2023’ team on arrival.
All of whom were complete strangers to me. The team of seven comprised of a mix of veterans, serving soldiers and civilians. Between us our team raised £3,750 for ABF.
The event starts on the first Friday night in June. You pitch up, register, and then enjoy the much-needed pasta party the night before the Yomp. After words of wisdom from the event organisers, we toasted with a beer, discussed our tactics to achieve Gold as a team and all sensibly went to bed for a good rest.
On Saturday morning the bugle sounding marked the start of breakfast at 04:30am. After a cheesy team photo, we were ready to go for the 06:00 start, setting off to the sound of bagpipes. Off we went battling through the foothills of the Cairngorm Mountains. It was a glorious day with temperatures reaching
20 degrees. Something I think caught a lot of people out, but luckily with my training been predominantly in Cyprus, the weather was not the challenge for me.
Witling down to the three of us, we stuck together and as our small team trekked
on through the hills and the glens, we dug
deep and through pure grit, determination, and shared knowledge from past yompers, we succeeded in achieving Gold in 21hours 30 minutes. Passing through the finish line at 3am with a fellow Grimbarian; ex Royal Anglian Poacher called ‘Tats.’ I managed to achieve 143rd place out of 884 participants and 15th Female overall out of 180.
The scenery mixed with the good weather and the ambiance of walking into the night under a full strawberry moon was simply beautiful.
I would’ve never believed I could have achieved anything to that level, but through the support of family, friends, colleagues, and The Catterick Yompers Team; anything seemed possible.
How did I train for this event?
Physical stamina
Dedicating as much time to walking as
I could. Sacrificing weekends to walking
or running sometimes 20-miles along
the coasts of Cyprus or signing up to
island events such as the Gym-to-Gym
1⁄2 marathon to keep me dedicated and a strict training plan were key to this success. A dedicated trip back to the UK to climb the Pen-Y-Fan in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). Ensuring PT sessions were never missed and Episkopi SDO;
Maj Cheesbrough ensured that, with what we now call ‘Cheesys workouts’ (they are brutal) but they proved beneficial. He even dedicating a Saturday morning of his own time to complete a 20-mile training run with me. Great teamwork!
Mental resilience
Walking can be dull and time consuming, but never missing a planned PT session or a walk and clocking up the hours gradually are all small barriers you overcome. It’s easy to have a few extra days rest here and
there but if you can mentally push through those small wins, when it comes to the bigger challenge those mental blocks are not so severe. You have trained your mind to overcome time and time again and when you want to achieve something, even if your body cannot take you, at this event I witnessed that the mind can.
Teamwork
I didn’t know my team personally, but
after walking with them for 21 hours, I now know so much about them. Breaking down barriers with complete strangers was pure camaraderie, something that the forces community proves to me time and time again.
I would recommend this challenge to anyone. It is not only walking but a whole event. From fireworks, a Gin bothy, lit forests, Ice cream stand, whiskey tent, pasta party and live music. It was utter brilliance from beginning to end.
RADC BULLETIN 2023 35