DAWN TILL DUSK | Fastpacking the length of Scotland in two weeks

2020 was weird as. Going a bit crazy in lockdown, I dreamt up my biggest, hairiest and most audacious physical challenge to date - squeezing the 864 km Scottish National Trail into just two weeks of annual leave.

By September, lockdown had eased enough that I finally had a window to give it a crack. So I set off, solo and self-supported, and somehow managed to get it done in a new overall FKT (Fastest Known Time) of just under 14 days. This is how it unfolded (spoiler alert - it involved walking from before dawn till after dusk, and a lot of chocolate).

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While the film focuses on my (mostly) solo physical journey, I received a huge amount of support and encouragement from afar - sadly I just don't have the material to do this side of the trip justice in the film. People all over the world followed my GPS tracker (with many following me all the way to the lighthouse at crazy o'clock), donated to the fundraiser and shared messages of support. A few friends (and a stranger!) even surprised me with brief visits on the trail by tracking my GPS location. I had an army of people behind me, and I'm eternally grateful to you all.

There was also a late night encounter with a sheep, a tick bite scare and a near-disastrous lack of food, but those are stories for another day...

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Festival selections/prizes:
🏆 Fort William Mountain Festival 2022 - People's Choice Award
🏆 Fort William Mountain Festival 2022 - Wild Places Film Prize
🏆 New Zealand Mountain Film Festival 2021 - Best Solo Film Award
📽️ Kendal Mountain Film Festival 2021 - Official Selection
📽️ Buenos Aires Running Film Festival (BARunFF) 2021 - Official Selection
📽️ RunNation Film Festival 2021 - Official Selection

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Raised £5,250 for WaterAid and their amazing work bringing clean water and sanitation to those who need it most: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraisin...

Shot entirely on a DJI Osmo Action camera.

My interview on the Dirt Church Radio podcast: https://www.dirtchurchradio.com/dirtc...

Fastest Known Time verification: https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/matt...

My blog/trip report: https://stubbornlyoptimisticmatt.word...

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Massive thanks to my good friend Hamish Fraser for the stunning map animations:   / _hamishfraser_  

Thanks to these amazing musicians for making their work accessible:
♪ Glacier || Chris Haugen (available via YouTube Audio Library)
♪ Adventure is Calling || Vens Adams (available via Uppbeat.io)
♪ Stone Cold || All Good Folks (available via Uppbeat.io)
♪ Ashes || Radical Face (Bear Machine Records, creative commons)
♪ Home Movies || Radical Face (Bear Machine Records, creative commons)
♪ The Lost Garden || Radical Face (Bear Machine Records, creative commons)
♪ Rising Sun || Lane King (available via Uppbeat.io)
♪ Ashes in the Window || Radical Face (Bear Machine Records, creative commons)
♪ I Can Hear the Ocean || Vens Adams (available via Uppbeat.io)
♪ Waltzing in the Ashes || Radical Face (Bear Machine Records, creative commons)