Head to the Highlands this summer for an annual charity event that offers runners the chance to do what they love across some of the wildest and most beautiful terrain in Scotland. There are still places available for this year's Great Wilderness Challenge in the event's 13 and 7 mile distances which will take place on 17 August.

Every year, the picturesque Scottish Highland villages of Poolewe and Aultbea, along with the surrounding country estates, play host to one of Scotland's most gruelling endurance sporting events for charity - the Great Wilderness Challenge which more than aptly lives up to its name.

The Challenge consists of a number of physically demanding walks and runs over a variety of distances and terrains. The 25 miler is a strenuous route in amazing surroundings, requiring serious fitness preparation while the 13 and 7 milers, although less arduous, equally capture the wilderness atmosphere, and are suitable for most levels of fitness and ability.

Speaking about the history of the event, organisers say: "In 1986, plans were afoot to provide hospice care in the Highlands for the first time, the Highland Hospice Appeal was set in motion to raise funds for the project and a small group of friends in Poolewe and Aultbea decided to do something to help.

"The first staging of the event took place on 23 August 1986 and featured 178 walkers and runners undertaking the arduous 25 mile mountain trek from Dundonnell to Poolewe. It passed off very successfully, and £6,200 in sponsorship was raised for the Highland Hospice Appeal.

"The event was originally intended as a 'one-off', but such was the popularity and success of the first that participants - and marshals - clamoured for a repeat. So the GWC was destined to become an annual event!"

Last year the Great Wilderness Challenge raised over £150,000 for Highland charities. £70,000 went to Highland Hospice. If you'd like to know more, visit the Great Wilderness Challenge website.

Image: Great Wilderness Challenge Facebook