A fitness fanatic is on top of the world after he finished sixth place in an ultramarathon alongside hundreds of elite athletes.
Window cleaner Kenny Rattray, 39, who is also a fitness trainer, has just completed the Great Himalayan Trail 763 – a gruelling challenge which involved running an average of 48 miles each day for 16 days.
Normally the race would have been held in Nepal, however, due to Covid-19 restrictions the race had to be run virtually, with race organisers tracking his distance and speed each day.
The 39-year-old’s achievement is all the more remarkable because he had to start the race a week after the first 100 runners due to a knee injury.
However, the St Mary’s man was determined to get into the top 10 and never let his setback stop him from achieving his dream.
Kenny said: “I took time off my work for the challenge and at one point was even running through the night to make up my time and position.
“I did the run on a 15-mile loop starting at Dronley Woods and over the hills and back again.
“It took 16 days and I was averaging 48 to 50 miles a day. I was covering the loop three to four times a day – effectively running two marathons a day to keep with the front runners.
“It was incredibly tough, harder than I would have imagined but I am proud to have done it and to have come sixth in the world out of 250 elite athletes.”
At the 272 mile mark, Kenny was in 19th place, however, by 402 miles he had crept into the top 10 and around 130 miles later he had fought his way to sixth.
“It was a total dogfight but I was determined to make it into the to 10,” he added.
“It was really tough at times, especially mentally. There’s only so much fitness you can gain then the rest is mentality.
“That’s the biggest thing I learned once I got to the top 10 is how mentally strong these athletes are – they were managing to keep pushing all the way.
“Because I lost a few days to the front runners because of the knee problem I had to do a lot of running through the night and through the day to try and keep with them.
“It took eight days to get into the top 10. They’re the highest level of runners in the world, so it was extremely hard at times to keep up with them.
“I was in and out of the top 10 for a few days then a few of them dropped behind and I gave it everything to try to get into the top five.
“I came within 20 miles of them at one point but they managed to see it through.”
Kenny said that he was grateful to the support of his entire family for his achievements, including his eight-year-old son Kenneth.
“He was behind me every day and was great at keeping my spirits up when things got difficult,” Kenny added.
“It’s also thanks to my partner Leanne Mackay that I have managed to achieve this.
“She was the backbone to this who gave me the time to train.
“I hope I have inspired my children and others by doing something that I and they sometimes didn’t think it was possible to do.”
Kenny said that as well as being an enormous achievement the race has really boosted his confidence and self-esteem.
He said: “It’s done me wonders for me because I’ve managed to hold my own with the top level.
“Now I need to rest for a while before I go to Spain in March for my next race.
“I’ll start preparing in January for that race in the Spanish mountains then I have a big year in Britain starting from May 1.”
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