The boy who cycled the West Highland Way in 25 hours

The West Highland Way is Scotland's most famous long-distance walking route but it is not for the faint-hearted.

The 96-mile route from the outskirts of Glasgow to Fort William usually takes walkers five or six days of hard slog.

So when 13-year-old Cameron Hutchison set out to cycle it in one go, he knew it wouldn't be easy.

The Edinburgh teenager says he wasn't even sure it was possible for a child to complete such an arduous challenge.

His route would take him along the shores of Loch Lomond and across Rannoch Moor - one of the last wildernesses in Europe.

He would then face the zig-zag ascent of the Devil's Staircase footpath in Glencoe before reaching his final destination.

The journey along old cattle drover paths and 18th Century military roads would see him push his limits as he battled sleep deprivation and the elements.

Cameron says he trained for 18 months on indoor spin bikes as well in the Pentland Hills, near his home, before setting out from his granny's house in Milngavie, with a stash of sweets to keep his energy up, just before noon on 20 June.

His dad Colin Hutchison, 55, accompanied him on the trek while mum Gill and Cameron's grandpa tried to meet up with them along the route where it crossed roads and forestry car-parks.

Cameron says he had to eat every 15 minutes to keep up his energy levels.

"I lived off sweets for a good 24 hours," he said.

"Adults can store more food and energy in their body than a kid can."

His father Colin said: "We didn't know how long and hard a 13-year-old could go. Until we did it we had no idea how his energy was going to last."

Although he was cycling at midsummer there was still a period when Cameron and his father were cycling in the dark.

He said: "It started to get dark but it's quite weird because I was still alert and I was still riding so my body wasn't wanting to go to sleep.

"At the same time it was odd being awake when I knew I needed to go to sleep."

"Between Beinglas and Glencoe Mountain Resort it was just a huge expanse of darkness, there was nothing, there was no-one.

"It was so weird and was the first time I had had that, ever."

Cameron says he found some sections spooky in the darkness including in the remote forest at Crianlarich.

"I had a headtorch and my shadow would appear on a tree and I would literally jump out of my skin," he told BBC Scotland.

Cameron and his dad had rain for eight hours during the night and by the time they reached Kingshouse, the 13-year-old felt he might give up on the challenge.

"I was really relieved when it started to get light," he said.

Before the ride, his dad had promised that it was the "greatest feeling" to be riding as the sunrise appeared but Cameron was to be disappointed.

"There was no sunrise," he says.

"It was so wet, it just turned from black to grey."

At Kingshouse, about 11 miles from Glencoe village, Cameron says he was mentally and physically drained as well as being completely soaked.

He met up with his mum and granddad and got changed in their car.

"It helped a bit but then I remembered I still had some way to go," he says.

"I didn't say much, I just got out of the car and wanted it to be over and started cycling again."

Cameron, who has raised more than £3,200 for the charity Mary's Meals, says he felt he had to carry on.

"I kept going because I felt if I had stopped I would have let everyone down, including myself," he says.

"At the bottom of the Devil's Staircase I was thinking 'what am I doing?' I was thinking 'I'm not in a state to do this' but I kept on going.

"Then about eight miles to go my mum and grandpa gave me one last restock of fuel and wished us luck.

"I thought I might bin it but I didn't."

Cameron, who rides for Peebles Cycling Club, recorded the ride on the fitness app, Strava.

He reached the finish line in 25.5 hours and says he soon fell asleep for about 18 hours.

"I have never done anything like that before where I have put all my hopes onto one thing so it was a bit surreal finishing what I had been working towards for so long," he says.

"When you're doing it you're not really processing it, so it was only when I woke up the next day I started thinking about it.

"I thought 'wow, I've just done the West Highland Way and I'm 13'.

"I looked it up but either they haven't recorded it or no kid has ever done it before."

Jenny Hutchison, the head teacher at Currie Community High School, where Cameron is a pupil, said it was awe-inspiring to undertake the challenge at such a young age.

Ian Beattie, race director of the West Highland Way running race and UK Athletics chairman, said: "The terrain varies on the route and some of the sections are very difficult.

"You need to be tough mentally and be able to battle through the lows and keep yourself going and hoping you get through it."