Scott Forsyth's borderline nuts challenge for Ataxia UK

Scott Forsyth decided to celebrate his 50th year by raising just over £11,000 for a charity close to his heart.

His friends’ teenage son and daughter were both diagnosed with Friedrich's ataxia. The family’s world was turned upside down overnight but they received a huge amount of support from Ataxia UK, leading Scott to take on his half marathon challenge for the little-known charity.

Now aged 51, Scott has been bitten by the fundraising bug and has set himself a new set of challenges for the charity in 2024.

Despite hating marathons, he will tackle four this year – Paris having already been completed on Sunday, April 7, in a time of four hours and 15 mins.

He’ll tackle the Leeds Marathon on May 12, followed by the Amsterdan Marathon on October 20 and the Abu Dhabi Marathon on December 14. He’s also competing in the Great Northern Run, a half marathon, on September 8.

Based in Abu Dhabi for the next two years with the bank he works for, Scott will also be taking on the world’s biggest zipline in Oman in November and rounding off the year with a Dubai skydive in December.

However, it’s an event on July 10 that he is most looking forward to – the Golden Eye Bungee Jump in Switzerland which he and his youngest son Sam have both signed up for.

Scott said: “It looks incredible and while I’m a bit nervous about it, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’ll be doing it the day before Sam’s 17th birthday on July 11.

“He’s young so he has no fear whatsoever – it’ll be an incredible way to celebrate his birthday! My youngest Maggie (12) will be watching us both from the sidelines but she’s too young to join us.

“We’re taking a holiday in Germany and hoping to catch some of the European Championship matches; the highlight will be the bungee jump though!”

It literally will be a highlight – the Golden Eye bungee, made famous by Pierce Brosnan in the movie, is situated at the Verzasca dam. The jumping station, the world’s highest stationary bungee, sits in the middle of the 380 metre long and 220 metre high (721 ft) dam wall.

Having raised so much last year with family, friends and his employer’s support, Scott has set himself a target of just £2000 this year on his Justgiving page.

He explained: “I’m aware that people were really generous last year, including my employer who match funded the overall amount raised.

“Being able to raise just over £11,000 last year was incredible but I don’t want people to be fatigued either so I’ve set my goal at £2000, with £730 already raised.

“I’m trying to raise as much as I can but I’ll be delighted with however much I raise – the biggest thing for me is raising awareness for Ataxia UK. If me doing these crazy stunts helps, that’s good enough for me.”

Luckily, Scott doesn’t have a fear of heights so he has no qualms about doing the sky-dive in Dubai either.

“You’re strapped to an expert so you’re in pretty safe hands,” he said.

However, having completed his first marathon earlier this month, Scott still has no love for the 26.2 mile distance run. He took part in two a few years ago and the Paris Marathon didn’t change his mind.

“It was an incredible atmosphere with 54,000 other runners taking part and some amazing scenery along the route,” he added. “But I still hate marathon running!

“I walked 20,000 steps round Paris the day before though – I won’t be doing that ahead of the next one in Leeds. Lesson learned!”

To prepare for his least favourite events, Scott is working out in the gym and following a running app.

If you’d like to donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/scott-forsyth-1705552007448.