Organisers of The Fort William Mountain Festival are delighted to announce that Pawel Cymbalista, a family man, MOWI harvest technician, and determined and resilient ultra endurance runner from Mallaig is the 1st recipient of The Scottish Award for Emerging Excellence in Mountain Culture (formerly The Scottish Youth Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture).
Pawel Cymbalista grew up in Pita, Poland. He studied English Studies at University and became an English teacher soon thereafter. Pawel moved to the Highlands in late 2013 after developing unhealthy habits around smoking and drinking alcohol, determined to turn his life around. This is where he found running, on the wintery streets of Fort William. In the following spring, he decided to join Lochaber Athletics Club and since that point has dropped over 30kgs in weight from a peak of 100kg.
Following this, Pawel’s running has gone from strength to strength and in the last few years, he has completed some incredible feats of human endurance in the mountains, which include:
Cape Wrath Trail Unsupported FKT of 3d 14h 49min 19s, 05.04.2023, Fort William to Cape Wrath, 376km, 13 000m of elevation (Unsupported)
The Highland 4 FKT – 47:49:29 (Combined, Unsupported) which includes
East Highland Way FKT 12:40:18 (Unsupported)
Road to the Isles Way FKT 05:43:00 (Unsupported)
West Highland Way FKT 17:57:35 (Unsupported) S>N
Great Glen Way FKT 11:28:36 (Unsupported)N>S
Great Glen Way FKT 11:53:32 (Supported)N>S
Ben Nevis 24h World Record – 7 up and down in 20h 40min
Charlie Ramsay Round 23:17:11 (08.08.2020)
Paddy Buckley Round 22:48:00 (30.05.2021)
Bob Graham Round 21:43:00 (17.07.2021)
Alongside his epic personal running achievements, Pawel is a big advocate for other people’s running, whether that’s supporting on other people’s goals (particularly the Ramsay!) or through his coaching business which he is incredibly passionate about. Pawel Cymbalista’s significant contribution he has made to ultra running and coaching.
We know that Pawel is just getting started, he is emerging as a force to be reckoned with in mountain and ultra running in the UK. Now, as one of our proud ambassadors, we are excited to see where he’ll head next and which FKTs he sets his eyes on!