COMMUNITY: Team McGowan - Loch Ness 'Charity' Beast Race 2021

30 August 2021

McGowan Environmental Engineering entered 2 teams and 15 individuals into Saturday’s Loch Ness Beast Race which was held at Aldourie Estate just outside Inverness.

The gruelling Beast Race – set along the banks, beaches and forest trails of Loch Ness – is a test of endurance and strength with 27 obstacles positioned around the 10km course. The annual event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and this year numbers were bolstered with around 1500 people taking part.

On this occasion, and in-line with our own CARE Values, we chose to partner with Keep Scotland Beautiful who are recognised as the charity for Scotland's environment, with a vision for a clean, green and sustainable Scotland. We are delighted to have raised £500 for the charity and would like to thank all those that donated to our Virgin Money Giving fundraising page.

Congratulations to Sam Hesling, Environmental Contracts Manager at McGowan, on finishing third with an outstanding time of 52:29 and only 1-minute behind the winner! Graeme Gilfillan, Site Supervisor at McGowan, also completed the race and said:

“We were all a bit nervous before the race and didn’t know quite what to expect, but once we got started it was fine and everyone enjoyed the test. It was tough but brilliant fun and we all had a laugh along the way. It’s great to do activities like this outside of work and the team are already looking forward to next year’s event”.

As you’d expect we wanted the teams to look their best so as proud sponsors of Strathspey Thistle FC, we thought it was only right to wear this season’s impressive home and away shirts. Here are the team line-ups and a few action pictures from the day...

Team 1 (Strathspey Thistle FC home blue L-R): Andy Mackay, Andrew McDonell, Sam Hesling, Graeme Gilfillan, Ross McGowan, Blair McGowan, Jake Reynolds-Jones, Graeme Breau

Team 2 (Strathspey Thistle FC away black L-R): Innes Crofts, Cameron McTavish, James Duncan, Jacob Mirza, Murdo Beaton, Jamie McGougan, Callum Beaton