Donna Pass, a coronavirus charge nurse at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital, will run the 96 miles of the iconic West Highland Way ultramarathon along the longest hospital corridor in Scotland.

The 52-year-old from Forfar, who completed the event ‘in real life’ in an impressive time of 29.5 hours in 2018, will be logging runs during breaks in her 12-hour shifts. 

Pass told BBC Scotland: "I will put both my 30-minute breaks together and be able to run for five miles and have a shower in that time if I do nine-minute miles.

"I will run at about 2am when the [nearly one-mile long] corridor is quiet. There is not a lot of activity at night in the coronavirus block."
 
Pass was already preparing to take part in the ‘real’ event this year when news of its shift to the online world broke. As part of the WHW race family already, she was determined to take part in its virtual version.

She added: "It is such a special race and you live on the memories forever. It's a very special weekend because of the people and once you take part you feel part of it for the rest of your life.

"Running it is for my mental health and wellbeing because it means I can remain in contact with the West Highland Way Race family despite the lockdown, which is very important to me."

The West Highland Way Race was founded in 1985 and is the world’s second oldest ultramarathon.

The virtual event started just after midnight this morning (Thursday, 11 June). Competitors have nine and a half days (until noon on Sunday, 21 June), rather than the traditional 35 hours, to ‘virtually run, walk or crawl’ the distance.

Image credit: Donna Pass