An engineer for Scottish Water raising funds for WaterAid has broken the record for the fastest time to complete the 864km Scottish National Trail.

Mechanical engineer Matthew Girvan shaved four days off the previous record to complete the trail in just under 14 days - with the renowned mountaineer who designed it, Cameron McNeish, describing his achievement as “amazing”.

He walked and ran an average of 62km a day on the gruelling challenge which he did without any support, with only his mobile phone for navigation and contact with his family and friends.

As well as battling the elements on his record-breaking adventure and hiking on some of the country’s toughest terrain Matt saved a sheep which had become caught in a cattle grid, celebrated his 29th birthday with a bowl of soup (what was his first hotfoot in days) and was once so tired he thought he was hallucinating.

Matt Girvan said:

“It feels amazing to have done it and it made me think how, if this nerdy asthmatic can do this, then no-one has to have limits put on them.”

“My goal was to do the trail in 15 days and I gave myself a 50-50 chance of pulling it off. From the start I gave it my all, knowing I’d be more likely to crash and burn going quickly than to do it in longer than the previous record of 18 days.”

“I’d make early starts, up at 5am, and would walk until 8pm or so. Being up against the clock I only ever had short breaks in the day. People keep asking what kept me going, and a big part of it was knowing that I had an army of supporters back home who believed in me, but at a basic level, it was all about sticking to my scheduled mileage, taking one day at a time. Walking through beautiful sunsets on warm, clear nights through remote glens with only roaring stags to share them with definitely kept my spirits up.”

The demanding trail winds its way from Kirk Yetholm near the English border, through the Borders, Central Belt, Cairngorms, and the remote far north-west before finishing at Cape Wrath.

Originally from New Zealand, Matt wild camped most nights and walked with a 7kg back pack – with a tent, sleeping bag, clothing, navigational equipment, and minimum food and water for each section between top-ups in villages along the way.

Matthew, who lives in Edinburgh where he regularly trains in the Blackford and Braid Hills, said:

Matt finally reached Cape Wrath just after 1am on September 25 – exactly 13 days, 19 hours and 35 minutes since leaving the other end of Scotland.

Along with setting a record Matthew aimed to raise £1 for every 1km he covered for WaterAid Scotland. He has already raised almost £4,000 for the charity which provides safe water facilities in some of the poorest areas in the world and is the official charity of Scottish Water.

Click here to visit Matt's JustGiving page and sponsor his record breaking challenge