Cateran Yomp 2026: 54 Miles of Grit

Grit and stupidity are probably the same thing.

It's having a pure mental and physical determination to get the job done. It's that never give up attitude.

You get to a point where failure's not an option. They just keep going. And it's much more of a mental battle than a physical battle.

Grit, that's just sort of looking forward, knowing you're stronger with them to continue.

It takes a hell of a lot of grit, more than what I expected.

I thought this was a pub crawl.

My name's Steve. I work at the Army Benevolent Fund, and we are all gathered here for the annual Cateran Yomp.

This event makes and breaks people. 54 miles in 24 hours. The dropout rate is high.

Never underestimate the Yomp. It's brutal, but it's epic.

I have decided to walk 54 miles over Scotland. A personal challenge, but also to raise the money for the charity.

So what do you need to be here for the Cateran Yomp? Clearly you've got to be motivated. But more importantly, you need that inner resilience.

When you're standing on the start line looking at the participants, you can never tell who's going to walk all 54 miles.

I'm George Pass, and I am ambassador for the 2026 Cateran Yomp. As a beneficiary, it's okay to take, but I think that where possible you should give back.

Being paralysed is not fantastic. You can either accept it and just drive through, or you can roll over and that'll beat you. And I just don't think that was ever an option for me.

Just knowing that people have sponsored me, the money is going to a really, really good cause, and it just keeps you going knowing that a little bit of effort goes a long way to help everybody else.

I tried to do it a couple of years ago, failed miserably. So I'm back with a vengeance. I'm looking forward to the new bit, which is the bit that I haven't seen before.

I took part last year and got injured. For me, it's unfinished business.

The first 22, 23 miles or so are really, really cheeky, until you get to the top of Glen Shee, and then it's just endurance. These are the bits that are truly testing of your character.

I'm in absolute bits, I'll be honest with you. If it weren't for those three, I'd probably jack it in, I'm not going to lie.

My feet are absolutely killing me.

Just kind of grit down and get on with it.

It takes a lot of endurance, a lot of physical endurance. It's a very hard event.

My knees are shagged, basically.

And you're going to carry on?

Oh yeah, I've got no choice, I've got to keep going.

Right now, I've run out of every single motivation I've got, and now it's just determination.

A bit of resilience, a bit of toughness, I think we'll get through it.

Gold is just the lure that drives you on. So although the body's hurting, it's 54 miles or nothing.

You asked us about grit at mile seven, and it was a poor place to ask, because there wasn't any grit at mile seven. What there was was noise. And grit is not noise. Grit is quiet.

It's getting your head down and putting one foot in front of the other, and keeping on going until the job is done.

Positive framing. Just saying I am going to finish it. I'm not going to give up. And saying that over and over whenever things get really hard.

Fitness gets you through the first part, but your head just has to break it down a little bit and find ways of keeping yourself going.

Three o'clock in the morning, I am definitely going to be in some pain, and probably some regret as well. But I'll definitely do it.

The last bit was actually really hard, a bit during the night. But caffeine, just determination. You keep going and finishing the 24 hours, because we didn't last time.

It's a lot. It's hard. It's mentally hard. You can't let a mental block of like, oh I can't do this any more. You've got to just push past that and keep going.

It's good to have somebody walking with you.

Never again. Never again. Never again, and we've come back twice.

Last 20 miles is more mental than physical.

Just don't give up, don't quit.

What grit means to me is when every part of you says give up, stop, you've had enough, and you manage to find just that little bit extra from somewhere just to keep going.

The Yomp is nothing but moments where you want to give up. If you find that little bit of grit just to get you off the chair, get your boots back on and make that next step, then you'll complete the Yomp, and that's the only way to do it.