Aster, a 5-year-old Hungarian hunting dog, will be taking the lead on a challenging coast-to-coast crossing of Scotland for charity – in less than 24 hours.
The short-haired gun dog, a veteran of scores of big hill walks, will be accompanied by four human companions in an effort to raise at least £10,000 for the Five Stars Scanner Appeal to help sick children at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. She will dip her paw in the North Sea at Beauly before setting off for a walk to Scotland’s Atlantic coast on Loch Duich.
Aster will be accompanied by former British and European heavyweight boxing champion Scott Welch, her regular walking companion former BBC Environment Correspondent and media consultant Alistair Macdonald, financial advisor and broadcaster Austin Hutchinson, and IT manager Chris Robinson.
Aster, a Hungarian vizla, said through an interpreter: ‘This is not exactly a pedigree team but they’re not a bunch of pussycats either. They should be OK provided we’re not dogged by bad weather.’
But she did express some concern about Scott Welch: ‘I know he’s a fit lad and has run across the Sahara but only our training sessions will show if he’s up to a cold, wet, windy day in the wilds of Scotland. Mind you, I’m not exactly going to pick a fight with him, even if his bark is worse than his bite.’
If the weather is good the team hopes to take in up to four Munros, Scottish mountains over 3000ft high. Aster revealed that she had already completed six and Alistair had done over 100. She hopes to see golden eagles and sniff out lots of other exciting wildlife like red deer and ptarmigan as they cross one of the remotest parts of Scotland.
Aster hopes to complete the 60-mile crossing in around 20 hours, though she has elected to supervise the first half of the journey – a 27-mile cycle ride – from her command vehicle. She admits her cycling skills are limited.
The team will be making the crossing at the end of May as part of the campaign to raise £1million for the new MRI scanner at the Manchester Children’s Hospital. The scanner needs to be put in place by the end of the year and so far only half the money has been raised.
‘Some of my friends say I’m barking but, frankly, if we don’t complete the trip in well under 24 hours it’ll be a pretty paw effort,’ added Aster.
