Aberdeen fundraiser conquers 'most demanding challenge' of his life in memory of beloved Grandma

An Aberdeen fundraiser has overcome the 'most demanding challenge' of his life to pay tribute to his beloved grandma, smashing his target in the process.

Focusing on his late grandmother and her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS), devoted grandson Paul McEwen overcame the most mentally and physically demanding challenge he’s ever faced.

Paul climbed the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales, in 23 hours and 55 minutes, completing the National Three Peaks Challenge with five minutes to spare.

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He took on the mammoth challenge to raise money for the MS Society in memory of Margaret Young, who lived with the neurological condition for two decades.

The 29-year-old previously revealed he had deliberately searched for a hard fundraising challenge to adequately honour Margaret, who he described as resilient, inspirational, and “as tough as old boots”.

Now he’s admitted he took inspiration from his grandma and channelled her mental strength to get him through the toughest moments, when he feared he wouldn’t be able to finish the challenge.

After time to recover from, and reflect on, the challenge, Paul said: "It was the most physically and mentally demanding thing I’ve ever done, and probably ever will. I can’t see myself doing it again!

"I would never have been able to complete it in 24 hours if I hadn’t put in all the work and training, but I would say the mental side of it, pushing past those mental blocks, was harder. It was more of a mental challenge than a physical one, but only just.

"I tried to keep Grandma at the forefront of my mind throughout the challenge, which wasn’t always easy. I was trying to focus my mind on what was going to motivate me.

"I was thinking about my grandma and what she went through. And I was thinking about her resilience and how valuable that’s been for me. During this challenge it was especially valuable and it was something I was able to draw on and get that extra bit of motivation from.

"I also thought about an MS Society leaflet I was given, which shows the various things different amounts of money can fund. That helped me remember that I was going to help a lot of people if I finished the challenge, and I told myself I just had to keep going."

More than 17,000 people in Scotland live with MS and more than 150,000 throughout the UK. For 70 years, the MS Society has been at the forefront of support, research, and campaigning to improve the lives of people affected by the condition.

Despite their differing heights and features, Paul said he found the three mountains "as hard as each other but for their own different reasons."

The pace on the first, Scotland’s Ben Nevis (1345m/4,413 ft), was faster than he was expecting. Then, as they were nearing the summit, Paul and his fellow climbers encountered something else he didn’t expect when he signed up for the challenge.

"About 1,000m up Nevis there was snow on the ground! It was falling slightly as well although it wasn’t too heavy. You would step off the track because it was so slippery, but then you were in over a foot of snow in some parts.

"I totally didn’t expect that in June! I couldn’t believe it when I saw the forecast. At least I can say I’ve done it in these conditions and be proud of that in a way."

Paul describes being hit by "a big wave of emotion" after the tough first climb and he started to doubt whether he would be able to complete the challenge.

He continued: "I was asking myself: ‘Have I bitten off more than I can chew here?’ I had to have a pep talk with myself. I told myself: ‘You’re here now, people have donated, and you’re going to do it. This means a lot to you. You’re doing it for the MS Society; you’re doing it for Grandma’.

"One of the other things that pushed me on was thinking about the amount people can go through in a lifetime with MS, both mentally and physically. Some people have to drag themselves out of very dark places to get to where they have to be.

"My wife, Nicole, had got a lot of people to record voice notes for me and she collated them all. It was one of those ‘break glass in case of emergency’ things and that was definitely the point when I thought – get these listened to! It was a bit emotional but at the same time they gave me the boost I needed.

"One of my friends said: ‘If you can do one then you can do two; if you can do two then you can do three’. That stuck with me the entire way."

After that positivity boost, and resting and refuelling during the drive to Scafell Pike (978m/3,209ft) in England, Paul was feeling good about the second climb. However, although Scafell Pike may be the shortest of the three, Paul found it the most mentally challenging.

After constant incline with "no flat bits to get some of that energy back or get your breath back" Paul looked ahead and saw what looked like a steep, rocky staircase stretching up towards the summit.

Again he felt the mental fatigue and self-doubt creeping back, but he was able to put his head down and push those negative feelings aside.

He said: "When you get to the top and you touch the trig point you feel great. It’s this feeling of complete elation. It’s a confidence boost. All the negative thoughts on the way up, you’ve pushed past them."

Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon (1085m/3,560ft) was also a "mental game" for Paul. With his energy sources depleted and his legs in agony, the final stretch to the summit of Wales’ highest mountain appeared to him "as though you should be climbing it with ropes."

But again he battled through, reaching the summit with the rest of his team, who by now had become friends. But as the group began its descent, Rob Goliah, co-founder and director of travel and adventure company Bookitlist, who had been leading the challenge, relayed some information that would lead to the most memorable moment of Paul’s 24 hour-challenge.

Paul continued: "We’d been delayed timewise due to traffic holdups, which were outwith our control. We were always on the cusp of whether we would finish within the set time and I was conscious of that throughout the challenge.

"On the way back down Snowdon, Rob said: ‘You guys can absolutely still make it in the 24 hours, but you’re probably going to have to run some of it!’ By this point my legs hurt; everything hurt. I tried running but it was too painful.

"I decided to try to manage the pain as much as possible by walking over the most uneven ground and running again once it levelled out a bit. When I had an hour left of the 24, I thought I would run for 20 minutes, walk for 10. I got to 15 minutes and that’s when the pain started to come back again.

"It got to a point where I had 200m of elevation to get down and I had 20 minutes to do it in. And this is the one moment of the whole challenge that I keep going back to think about. It was the tipping point between whether I was going to finish in the time or not.

"This is the point when I thought: ‘You will never, ever be in this position again. If you don’t do it in the 24 hours, you will always ask yourself ‘what if?’ What if you could have done it? What if you could have dug a bit deeper?’ So I ran for that 20 minutes.

"It was like I’d flipped a switch in my mind between just finishing, and finishing within 24 hours. If I’d been training for anything, mentally, that moment was it. It could have been a push from my grandma.

"I was definitely thinking about how she’d gone through so much in her life, fighting through the MS. I told myself: ‘If she can do that, you can do this.’"

Eventually Paul reached a flat road and could see his team leader a way along it. Focusing on his watch, which showed he had just minutes left to complete the challenge, Paul sprinted past climbers heading in the opposite direction, later joking that he must have seemed like “the rudest person in Wales” as he rushed by them.

He continued: "I just kept running towards Rob. I was sprinting down this straight, looking at my watch. It was 7:32am and we’d started at 7:37am the day before. I got there in time and I just felt elation. Then Rob said: ‘You do realise that when you passed that bridge half a mile away, that was you finished?’

"I felt a mix of relief and emotion. To think I was so close to not doing it, and then I managed to get it done with that five minute cushion. It was the best feeling ever.

"Physically, I was absolutely broken. I was so sore; everything hurt. But the feeling of having done it, and then seeing my wife who was there to meet me – I was just so happy. It was demanding on so many levels. But to come through the other side of it was so rewarding.

"I was thinking about Grandma and how she would feel about it and the pride she would have. It was such a nice moment and honestly something I’ll never forget.

"I can’t speak highly enough of the group I was with. Both the guys from Bookitlist and the other people doing the challenge were fantastic, and so supportive. It was a massive team effort. There has been mention of us all getting together and doing another challenge in 2026 but we’ll see!

"I got a medal from the company. I’m going to frame it – along with my fundraising certificate from the MS Society – because I am really proud of this. They’ll go in pride of place in the house because it’s been an amazing experience and one I’ll never forget.

"I’ve had some nice conversations with my mum about how Grandma would feel if she knew I’d completed this challenge. She was such a massive boost for me, and such a motivating factor throughout completing the challenge. Yeah, she would be proud as anything today, which also makes me very proud of myself."

Morna Simpkins, Director of MS Society Scotland, said: "We would like to say a huge congratulations and thank you to Paul for completing this really tough challenge for people living with MS.

"MS is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord. It impacts how people move, think and feel. Symptoms are different for everyone and are often invisible.

"It’s thanks to the efforts of our fundraisers that we’re able to support people affected by MS today, as well as fund campaigns and research that will improve the lives of people living with MS, and their carers, in the future. Paul really is an MS Superstar and we have no doubt that he would have made his grandma very proud."

Paul's fundraising target has already been smashed, but you can still make a donation on the JustGiving page here.

He also completed the challenge using Bookitlist, which you can see more on here, and to find out how you can take on your own challenge to support the MS Society, click here.