Oban rugby players' 7/7/7 charity challenge for bone cancer

Finlay planned to run in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, France, England and then finish back home in Oban on the anniversary of Gill’s death, inter-railing between each destination.

When talking about his plans at rugby training, fellow Oban Lorne player Lorne Sinclair was intrigued, and decided to join Finlay on his adventure.

Lorne said: “To be honest, as soon as I heard I said I would be up for it. It would have been ten times harder to try complete that challenge alone.

“We kept one another going, and we matched out running through the whole thing together, it’s made us grow much closer together.

“Luxembourg was seriously difficult, it hit 30 degrees and was so hilly, so we avoided inclines for the rest of our routes.

“By the end of the challenge it became a pretty great partnership, we knew what we were doing every time. Finlay planned the travel, I planned the running routes.”

The challenge was tough of the pair, especially Finlay who suffered some nasty blisters, but they managed to smash their fundraising target of £2000 well ahead of schedule, and now sit at £4200.

The final leg of the duo’s challenge in Oban was a proper home coming, starting and ending at the rugby club on a sunny day, they were greeted by friends and family, a celebration for a job well done.

Finlay documented the whole adventure on YouTube, which you can watch below. 

“We wanted to do the last one as fast as we could” Finlay said, “It was the fastest half marathon of the lot, we really pushed ourselves as hard as we could.

"It was 1.34.34, just 30 seconds off my all time personal best. We were gassed out after that!”

The experience was so special, that Finlay is already planning a follow up for next year.

Perhaps an 8/8/8 challenge, or maybe an ultramarathon? Time will tell, but both Finlay and Lorne are down for the challenge.

Finlay hopes to push the fundraiser even further to £5000. You can donate to the fundraiser here.