07 Aug 2026
A determined Fleetville dad completed his gruelling challenge of running 100 miles across Scotland within 24 hours with just minutes to spare.
Paul Kelly, 45, the managing director of an electrical and mechanical company, took part in the Edinburgh Ultra Marathon as a charity fundraiser for his niece Sofia, who was born with the rare genetic disorder Rett Syndrome.
After trying unsuccessfully to support her in the London Marathon, he was persuaded by his friends Joe and Mike to join them on the Rat Race 100 from Edinburgh Castle to Glamis Castle.
“They said it would be a great event and a worthy event to fundraise. ‘How hard can 100 miles in 24 hours actually be?’ they added. It turned out to be a lot tougher than I envisaged when I signed up!”
But Paul was determined to do what he could to help Sofia, who is now 13 and needs additional equipment to help with her condition.
Rett Syndrome is an incredibly rare genetic disorder that affects brain development, resulting in severe physical disability. So, unlike many children, Sofia has grown up without the power to walk, talk, and do some of the things that young ones enjoy and love. She communicates with the use of her Tobii Eye Gaze.
“They say if you want to get to know someone, walk a mile in their shoes; well, Sofia would give absolutely everything just to walk one step in my shoes.
“The funds raised from my run will go towards an amazing chair that can transition straight from the car to off-road and bring a little more comfort to her world. This chair will hopefully bring a smile to her beautiful face, which often tries to hide the pain she endures.”
Having only ever run a half-marathon back in 2021, Paul wasn’t an experienced long distance runner, but he completed a 50km event run in November 2025 and a 100km event in May as part of his training plan.
“The biggest challenge with the training was that I have a young family who comes first, so all my training was effectively when they were asleep.
“I would be out at all hours of the night. I did a sunset to sunrise run in June as preparation for running through the night with fatigue. My wife Taya has been incredibly supportive, obviously I haven’t been able to spend many evenings with her as I am always out running and she hasn’t complained (much!).”
He said one of the initial struggles in running 100 miles over a restricted period of time was the amount of mandatory kit he had to bring, which included clothing, torches, battery chargers, a first aid kit, 1.5 litres of liquid and carb gels.
Then there was the environment… “You are running from morning to morning, so all the changes in weather from midday sun at 25ºC along the coast to 10ºC rain at night in open fields.”
And the different terrain with the same footwear… “Sand, road, gravel, grass and mud hills, rock paths along cliff edges, pebbles, forestry, long grass, midges after the rain fall in the morning – your feet take a lot of abuse.
“You had to focus on keep hydrating and ensuring you take on enough carbs even though you were sick of taking them, keeping a clear mind and focusing on the end goal, which was actually 102.4 miles.”
As with any long distance run of this calibre, there were highs and lows…
“Even though it was hot during the midday sun, running along the coast and across the Forth Road Suspension Bridge were simply beautiful views which take your mind away from everything you are feeling. However, I think as the sun was setting was my favourite part of the run, the weather was cooling, the views were incredible from the hills and just watching the sunset was something else.
“Between Pitstop 6 and Pitstop 7, that was absolutely demoralising, the route was a cliff edge run towards St Andrew’s Golf Course, the trail was mainly rock and huge boulders or a sandy wet beach, so it was impossible to get any momentum, it was up and down and just impossible to even walk slowly.”
That section of the race was to have a major impact on their progress going forwards.
“We lost so much time that we had built up to that point, we thought we had blown our hopes of completing the run in 24 hours, so when we got to Pitstop 7 where a lot of my family were waiting there were a lot of mixed emotions.
“It was lovely to see them but we were feeling so emotionally frustrated, it was hard to focus on saying hello at around 11pm, work out what I needed from the Pitstop, sort food, drink and then work out how much time we had left in order to complete the run in 24 hours.
“So there was a lot to deal with and wasting time at a Pitstop to be respectful and acknowledge my family who had taken a lot of time and effort to see me was particularly difficult to manage.”
Paul has two children at Fleetville schools – six-year-old Louis who is going into Year 2 in September, and Grace, nine, who will be starting Year 5 – and they ran alongside him with Sofia’s younger siblings Luca and Olivia as he left the Pitstop.
“It was pitch black along the route so we had to say goodbye to them so they could walk back to the family safely. There were a lot of emotions to deal with in a very short space of time.”
Although Joe and Paul completed the entire run together, their friend Mike retired at Pitstop 8 after approximately 80 miles. As the two remaining runners headed towards the finish line, it was unsure whether they would manage it within the 24 hours.
“At each Pitstop we were assessing our timings and working out our pacing plan. After the disaster between Pitstops 6 and 7 where 13 miles took us more than three and a half hours to complete, we spent a bit of time working out how long we had left in time and miles, in order to reset our pacing strategy.
“So, between Pitstop 7 and 8 which was the real night-time test, we ran a bit harder than what we’d originally planned, purely to gain back time and get ourselves back within the 24 hour time frame.
“At the last Pitstop, number 9, we asked one of the crew for the almost exact distance remaining until the end, we had 8.2 miles to go with two hour to finish the run, so we left feeling incredibly positive, knowing that was easily achievable, providing we had no more disasters. The rain had stopped, the sun was rising, birds tweeting away, it was magical.
“But as we ran out of Pitstop 9, heading around a nice flat path, full of confidence and renewed belief, I can’t begin to describe the biggest gut-wrenching vision we witnessed.
“In front of us is what felt like Mount Everest, just this huge hill that just seemed to go up into the clouds, our hearts sunk, the 24 hours time had just vanished in the blink of an eye.
“We hit this hill though, we climbed up the muddy steps for what seemed like an eternity, we passed two lads who had just stopped half-way totally exhausted, the first people other than crew we had seen since Pitstop 7.
“We gave it everything for the 2.5 miles of hiking and when we arrived at the peak, the views were spectacular. We looked at our watches and the distance remaining, it wasn’t great, but we could still do it. We descended the hill as quickly as possible, it was a stony, awkward decent and going down was incredibly painful on the knees and quads.
“We got to the bottom of the hill and hit the flat paths, we had seen a sign for four miles to go and we had just under an hour left, at that point we knew that breaking 24 hours was as certain as death and taxes!
“Coming down the mile straight towards Glamis Castle was unbelievable, all those hours of mixed emotions and pain vanished, my kids, niece and nephew met us on the path and joined us for the last 200 metres of the run, it was such a beautiful moment, one that I could now cherish and enjoy and not have to worry about times and miles and truly smile with joy and relief.
“Crossing the finish line with my mate Joe and the kids was just pure happiness! Seeing all my family there, I could now enjoy the moment and begin to process the run.”
Out of the 559 starters, 394 of them finished and only 32 of them broke the 24 hour marker.
Paul said he has been overwhelmed by the donations and well wishes he has received from the local community: “People were always asking me how long I had left until the run, how my training was going and wishing me all the best, so that’s been lovely.
“I met with Elly O’Meara from Mix 92.6FM, she had me on her breakfast show to talk about my up-and-coming race, so that was really good of her.”
So what next? Surely that can’t be his last race?
“After the run, I said I’d never do anything as crazy again, however as we got on the flight home Monday, we started looking at new Ultras for next year, starting with the 150km Three Peaks trilogy. There is also a backyard run in St Albans around May next year, so I think we will give that a go. I have just signed up to do a small 50km run around the North Chilterns in Hertfordshire in November, so once I recover fully from this and spent the summer relaxing with the family, I will start preparing again…”
To date more than £20K has been raised towards the charity Through Sofia’s Eyes to enable her to have regular occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and specialist equipment to allow her body to stay as strong as possible.
You can still donate at https://www.justgiving.com/ 100 mile Ultra Marathon
