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The trail-running teacher who covered 178 miles in less than three days

Marta Leshyk
Freya Shepherd Freya Shepherd is standing in the middle of the shot. Her hands are lifted up and she is holding walking sticks. Behind her there are mountain tops covered in snow. She is lit up by late sunlight.Freya Shepherd
Freya is thought to be the first woman take on both trails back-to-back

Freya Shepherd said there were times during her 178-mile (287km) run along two of Scotland's best-known long-distance trails when the pain and sleep deprivation made her feel "a bit loopy".

The 26-year-old physics teacher ran the famous West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way back-to-back in two days and 15 hours - only managing to sleep for about 80 minutes during the whole trek.

It was Freya's second attempt at completing the run from the outskirts of Glasgow to Inverness after failing in her first last October.

"I was going quite crazy by the end," she told BBC Scotland.

"It felt fine at first and then it started to get really bad.

"Every time I stopped, I put my head on my poles and just kind of shut my eyes for a few minutes."

Freya Shepherd Freya running at night, she is wearing a blue, long-sleeve top, black shorts , magenta backpack and a flash light on her forehead. She is holding walking sticks in her hands. Mountains covered in snow are in the background. It is dusk and the sunset is visible in the background.Freya Shepherd
Freya's says the most surprising thing was how "perfect" the weather was

Despite the pain and lack of sleep, Freya, from Inverness, said she was determined not to give up for a second time.

She is thought to be the first woman to complete the two long-distance treks in one continuous effort.

Her route began at the start of the West Highland Way in Milngavie, north of Glasgow.

From there, she ran up the side of Loch Lomond, into Rannoch Moor and Glencoe before arriving at Fort William after 32 hours.

The 95-mile West Highland Way typically takes recreational walkers five to eight days because of its often tricky terrain.

The Great Glen Way, which starts in Fort William and runs beside the Caledonian Canal, through Fort Augustus and up Loch Ness up to Inverness, can often take walkers five to seven days.

Freya did them both in less than three.

Freya Shepherd Freya is standing in the middle of the shot and is smiling broadly. She is wearing a grey, sleeveless top and black shorts and Loch Ness is behind her. Freya Shepherd
The second trail took Freya along the side of Loch Ness

She said she was about 50 miles (80 km) into the run when she had a brief stop at the hotel in Bridge of Orchy and first tried to sleep.

Freya recalled: "I just couldn't rest.

"I think the adrenaline was going through me at that point.

"So I lay down and I rested my legs, but I didn't sleep."

She continued her run into the night.

After crossing the Rannoch Moor, Freya turned off her torch and looked up at the sky which was covered with stars.

"It was just incredible," she said.

"And then there was a big orange moon behind, which, was really cool."

It wasn't until Fort Augustus, three-quarters of the way through the entire run, that Freya managed to grab any sleep when she lay down in her parents' campervan for an hour.

Freya Shepherd The photo taken in the woods, the trees are visible on the background. Freya is standing in the middle of the shot and her support runners are standing next to her. On her right hand side is a man in a grey running jacket and shorts, with black headband, and a woman with shoulder length fairly red hair, purple jacket and black leggings. On Freya's left hand side is a man in black top and shorts with a grey cap, next to him on his left stands another man in a blue jacket, grey cap, black shorts and his having a beard. And then, further left stands a woman in blue adidas quarter zip top, black shorts and grey headband. Everyone on the picture has big smile on their face.Freya Shepherd
Support runners and family helped Freya along the way

During her first attempt at the run last year, Freya tackled most of the route alone, especially during the night.

This time she tried to get as much help as possible from family, friends and fellow runners.

She divided the route into 13 sections and after each one she was met by her parents who followed in a campervan to provide snacks, water and a cup of tea.

At each checkpoint she was joined by friends who volunteered to run with her.

Freya said that on this attempt she only ran about 19 miles (30km) alone.

Freya Shepherd Freya in the middle of the shot running on the trail. She is running towards the mountains with their tops covered in snow. She is wearing a navy T-shirt, black shorts and magenta backpackFreya Shepherd
Freya says she "wanted a proper big adventure"

It was on one of the sections when she was running on her own, at the side of Loch Ness, near Invermoriston, that Freya said she reached "a real low point".

Her feet were swollen so she felt her trainers had become too tight and the pain from her blisters hurt at every step.

"I was in so much pain," she said.

"I just ground to a halt and I wasn't able to eat. I wasn't able to drink."

"I was moving, but I felt like everything was going backwards and I started hallucinating.

"I just thought, I can finish, but it's going to take me so long, is it worth it?"

Freya said it took her about an hour to pass this section - and then she met one of her support runners.

"They found me, threw some food at me, forced me to drink, forced me to keep on moving," she added.

Freya admitted she couldn't have done it without her support team.

"Every time a new runner joined, they brought a fresh bit of energy," she said.

"So it didn't matter how bad I was feeling, suddenly everything felt ok again."

Freya Shepherd Freya running on the mountain trail with poles in her hands. It is dusk and the mountain tops covered in snow behind her are lit with warm orange light.Freya Shepherd
Freya says: "It was the best run I have ever done"

Freya took up running and orienteering in her late teens.

She said that being good at endurance made her want to combine two long-distance routes to see what she was capable of.

"It just motivated me to keep on going and see where my limit is and how much I can do," Freya added.

She hopes her "crazy teacher" antics will provide inspiration to her students when she returns to school.

"I think it's quite cool that I could have shown some of the young girls at school that sport is for everyone, and there's a place for them out there," she added.