Brave Dumbarton runner Marc completes West Highland Way

Jun 26 2009 by Lorraine Waddell, Lennox Herald (main ed)

IT was straight back to work on Monday for knackered Dumbarton runner Marc Casey after taking on the 95-mile West Highland Way Race.

The courageous electrician completed the tricky course in 23 hours and 13 minutes, beating his target time of 24 hours.

He was at home relaxing with his wife and two children, Molly, six, and Lucas, four, on Sunday but back out for a long shift at work on Monday morning, despite having massive blisters on his feet.

Leaving with a field of around 150 other runners from Milngavie at 1am on Saturday morning, the 35-year-old ran the popular West Highland Way race.

The Dumbarton Amateur Athletics Club member finished the race just after 11pm on Saturday night after a difficult day’s running.

And he sprinted through the finish line, grabbing an energy-filled Mars bar on the way.

His proud wife Claire was with him along the way at the checkpoints, giving him food, drinks and encouragement, and his support runner, brother-in-law Steven Prentice, kept him going.

She said: “He was aiming for 24 hours but it was fantastic that he did it in less than that.

“He was under the impression that the second half was easier, but he found it worse although he just managed to keep going.

“There was a presentation on the Sunday just outside Fort William where he was presented with a crystal goblet.”

The delighted runner, who would love to take on the same challenge again, said: “I’m just really glad to have finished it, and want to thank my brother-in-law who was only going to run eight miles but ran over 40 miles, my wife Claire and my sister Cheryl for supporting me.”

Marc previously ran marathons in Paris, London, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

We reported last week how ex-policeman David Hall, from Cardross, was taking on the race for charity.

The Milburn Harrier, 52, wanted to raise money for his niece’s son Darren Cousar who suffers from the rare genetic condition Tetrasonomy 18p.

David finished the race in a credible 30 hours, 54 minutes but has still to calculate his fundraising total.