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An endurance runner has set a new record for going up and down Ben Nevis seven times in 24 hours.<\/p>\n
Mallaig fish farm worker Pawel Cymbalista took 20 hours and 40 minutes to complete the challenge on Britain’s tallest mountain on 12-13 June.<\/p>\n
He first broke the record on the 1,345m (4,413ft) peak in 2021 after managing it in 21 hours and 49 minutes.<\/p>\n
Inverness-based Francisco Javier Cabrera Valdes completed the feat 40 minutes quicker in 2023, but Mr Cymbalista has taken the record again.<\/p>\n
His run raised funds for the Mallaig Shop and Community Hub charity, and came just 10 years after he gave up a 20-a-day cigarette habit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Pawel Cymbalista<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nPawel Cymbalista encountered snow and a wind chill of -7C during his challenge<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n
Mr Cymbalista had to contend with a wind chill of -7C and snow around the summit of Ben Nevis, and temperatures of 10C and higher lower down. <\/p>\n
He risked overheating as he moved between the different conditions.<\/p>\n
“I ran the easier parts and power-hiked the steep parts – basically putting my hands on my knees and pushing,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You just grit your teeth and push all the way up.”<\/p>\n
He kept himself going with drinks of water and eating Jelly Babies.<\/p>\n
Mr Cymbalista was back to work a few days after completing the challenge.<\/p>\n
He said: “I was struggling with my legs – and my poor knees.<\/p>\n
“But there are no excuses. It is all self-inflicted, as my wife says.”<\/p>\n
He now plans to set a new time for summiting Scafell Pike in England and Yr Wyddfa in Wales in 24 hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Pawel Cymbalista<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nPawel Cymbalista on one of his runs back down Ben Nevis<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n\n
In August, he hopes to take part in the 215-mile (346km) Race Across Scotland.<\/p>\n
Last year, Mr Cymbalista set the fastest known time for completing a long-distance walking route in the Highlands.<\/p>\n
He took just over three days to cover the 240-mile (386km) Cape Wrath Trail from Fort William to Cape Wrath.<\/p>\n
He was also the first person to finish the route unsupported, carrying all the food and clothing he needed to sustain him along the way.<\/p>\n
Mr Cymbalista slept for a total of 95 minutes on his run.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The dad-of-two works for a fish farm company and has been raising funds for Mallaig Shop and Community Hub, an initiative to redevelop a former Spar shop.<\/p>\n
It already has a Post Office and work is ongoing to create spaces for community use.<\/p>\n
Mr Cymbalista’s wife Ashley is project manager.<\/p>\n
“I run up mountains to raise money for the hub,” he said.<\/p>\n
Ten years ago he said he was stuck in an unhealthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n
“I was overweight, drinking too much and I smoked 20 cigarettes a day for seven years. I tried to change my habit many times, but it was hard,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Cymbalista, who is originally from Poland, had first started smoking when he was 18 and on a visit to Fort William.<\/p>\n
“Maybe it was because of the midgies,” he joked.<\/p>\n
He later returned to Scotland to find work and gave up cigarettes a month after after moving to Fort William.<\/p>\n
“I have not touched a cigarette since December 2013,” he said.<\/p>\n
Working outdoors in a forestry job and then joining Lochaber Athletics Club helped turn his life around.<\/p>\n
Mr Cymbalista said: “You can’t smoke cigarettes if you want to run.”<\/p>\n
He added: “I had more energy, felt better and food tastes started to taste nice.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"59 minutes ago By\u00a0Steven McKenzie,\u00a0BBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter Pawel Cymbalista It is the second time Cymbalista has set a record time for the challenge An endurance runner has set a new record for going up and down Ben Nevis seven times in 24 hours. Mallaig fish farm worker Pawel Cymbalista took 20 hours […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2711,2713,2712,1061,1127],"class_list":["post-3632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scotland","tag-ben","tag-hours","tag-nevis","tag-record","tag-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3634,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3632\/revisions\/3634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}