luxury
endurance.
A world-class support team
Physiotherapists, soigneurs, nutritionists and Michelin chefs will provide personalised support to each athlete.
Meet the team
matt smith
From a young age, Matt has been an avid outdoorsman, born and raised on the rugged west coast of Scotland with an insatiable curiosity for adventure in the wild. He spent his early years exploring the mountainous regions of Arran, uninhabited coastal islands, and unkempt moors and forests right on his doorstep.
With each new experience, Matt's thirst for the unknown only grew stronger, leading him to join the British Army in June 1994, where he specialised as a physical training instructor and completed the Airborne Parachute and Army Commando selection. After six years with Special Forces, he organised successful expeditions across the globe fuelled by his enthusiasm for adventure and endurance events.
Upon leaving the forces, Matt founded Primal Adventures, which provides bespoke wilderness and luxury experiences to private clients throughout Scotland. With over 25 years of experience pursuing his passion for adventure has culminated in the development of Highland Kings.
Our Ambassadors
Donnie Campbell
Ambassador
Donnie Campbell, is an ex Royal Marine Commando with a background in a wide range of sports from mountaineering, ski mountaineering, kayaking, cycling. However, his greatest passion is endurance sports especially long distance mountain / trail running.
In 2020 he broke the record for the fastest self propelled round (run, walk, cycle, kayak) of all 282 Scottish Munro’s, he took over a week off the previous record by completing the round in 31 day 23 hours.
Donnie Campbell is also one of Scotland’s top running coaches and is the founder and owner of Get Active Running. He has worked with numerous athletes varying from complete beginners to national and international level athletes who have all seen improvement in performance under his coaching.
Brian Wood
veterans ambassador
Brian Wood was awarded the Military Cross , one of Britain’s highest awards for gallantry in combat, by Her Majesty The Queen II, following his courageous leadership under enemy fire in Iraq.
At the young age of 23, Brian Wood found himself thrust into the front lines of Iraq, facing the harrowing Battle of Danny Boy. In a moment of crisis, he courageously led a bayonet charge across open ground with insurgents firing at just five soldiers. His remarkable bravery did not go unnoticed, and upon his return, he was honoured with the Military Cross by Queen Elizabeth II.
Brian's extraordinary life story has been commissioned for a compelling 90-minute dramatisation on the BBC titled 'Danny Boy.'
His subsequent endeavours have been equally remarkable:
In 2021, he embarked on 'The Ultimate Sacrifice,' a mission to run 25 marathons in 25 days in honour of the fallen.
In 2022, he pushed his limits further with 'The Ultimate Sacrifice,' completing 35 marathons in 35 days.
In 2023, he took on the Marathon Des Sables, renowned as the world's toughest foot race, further showcasing his unwavering determination and resilience.
Highland Kings is immensely proud to have Brian as an ambassador for our Highland Kings Challenge Day. He wholeheartedly supports the cause of veterans and those in service uniform, actively working to raise awareness about mental health and the significant sacrifices made by individuals in uniform.
Anna-Marie Watson
Ambassador and coach
Anna-Marie has spent two decades working with high-performing individuals and teams across four continents. She served in the British Army for nine years, deploying on three operational tours, and worked in a range of challenging environments from icy snow-holes in northern Norway to the heat and sand of the desert in Central Asia.
Having developed valuable coaching experience from her military career, she worked on a variety of international multi-cultural learning and development projects with the likes of Abu Dhabi Government, TUI Travel, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Anna-Marie is also an elite endurance athlete, constantly pushing her own mental and physical boundaries. Her most notable successes include winning the first edition Oman by UTMB - branded the "Beast from the Middle East" in 2018. She also placed seventh lady in the Ultra Tour de Mont Blanc in 2017, a 170km trail race with 10,000m of vertical ascent that takes the average hiker 10 days to complete. Anna-Marie finished in 28 hrs 32 mins.
Support team
Alison Rose
Alison will be helping all our Highland Kings runners stay healthy and injury free.
With over 25 years’ experience as a physiotherapist in sport, Alison is clinic director of The Coach House Sports Physiotherapy Clinic (CSPC) in Leeds.
A physio for 2004 double-Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes and 2012 Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, she continues to work with five-time Olympic triathlon medallists the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, as well as numerous other elite athletes across a range of sports.
Alison specialises in working sports men and women and with individuals with a complex injury history, including those with postural alignment issues and chronic musculoskeletal dysfunction preventing normal activities and affecting performance.
Clinical special interests include osteitis pubis and chronic pelvic dysfunction, complex injuries, visceral work and breathing disorders that affect sporting performance. Alison believes that injury prevention and full and functional rehabilitation is the key to long term performance. She also mentors and teaches other physios so that CSPC can help as many people reach their goals as possible.
An ex-Great Britain international at the marathon, Alison is still a keen runner and mountain biker who believes that staying injury free, enjoying sport and staying healthy is central to quality of life.
Mark Buckingham
Mark has been a sports physiotherapist for 28 years and has worked with athletes at three Olympic Games and covered every major athletics championship for the past two decades including world and European finals on both track and cross country. Mark has also worked in elite rugby and dance.
In 1999, Mark set up the medical-physio section of the British Athletics High Performance Centre at Loughborough University and did the same for the English Institute of Sport in 2002.
Mark also runs and owns Witty, Pask and Buckingham Chartered Physiotherapists in Northampton where 15 physiotherapists care for 300 patients every week. His personal clinical load is 80 per cent runners from elite/international level to club runners, parkrunners and juniors. Mark has worked with multiple Olympians, marathon world record holders and ultra-distance athletes in events such as Marathon des Sables, Gobi and Namibia Desert Ultras and Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. A team ethic is vital to success in any of these demanding events, and many runners have been Mark’s patients for over 20 years.
Alison Rose and Mark first worked together at the Sydney Olympics and have covered many championships as team physiotherapists. They share the same work style and principles and understand how to give people the best chance to continue competing wherever possible. However, they also believe that injury prevention and full, functional rehabilitation is the key to long term performance.
Alan Murchison
Chef Murchison has over 25 years of experience working in Michelin-starred kitchens at the best restaurants in the UK, including winning four AA Rosettes while Executive Chef at L'Ortolan restaurant in Berkshire.
In 2013, he set up Performance Chef to provide personalised food and nutritional support to athletes of all abilities to optimise performance.
Alan currently advises over 60 Olympic athletes and works across a range of sports including ultra-running, athletics, basketball, cycling, triathlon, rowing, windsurfing & water polo.
He has also worked with British Cycling at major competitions and training camps, and most recently is proud to have been appointed team chef with professional women’s cycling squad Canyon-SRAM.
Alan is a lifelong endurance athlete. Starting life as a mountain runner, he became an international runner and skier for Scotland, and as a master’s athlete, has won multiple European and world titles in duathlon, represented Scotland in cross-country running and earned national cycling time trial titles.
Away from racing he is a regular contributor to health and fitness publications and the author of The Cycling Chef books, published by Bloomsbury, which won best in category at the 2020 Gourmand World Cookbook awards.
Eliot challifour
Eliot Challifour has managed the Porsche Human Performance laboratory which is located at the Silverstone GP circuit in the UK for 13 years.
The team at Porsche are highly experienced with academic qualifications at degree or masters level in the fields of sports science, sports coaching and sports therapy. They are also accredited with the UK Strength & Conditioning Association (UKSCA) and International Society of Sports Nutrition (CISSN).
They specialise in fitness testing and performance coaching amateur and professional athletes for the highest level of competition. Eliot has coached multiple F1 drivers and amateur athletes to optimise their performance using a holistic model of health and performance.
Andy Blow
Andy Blow is a Sports Scientist with a degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Bath. An expert in sweat, dehydration and cramping, Andy previously worked as the Team Sports Scientist for the Benetton and Renault Formula 1 teams and remains an adviser to the Porsche Human Performance Centre.
An elite-level triathlete in his younger days, Andy has finished in the top-10 of Ironman and IM 70.3 races, as well as winning an Xterra World title. He has also raced around the world in multi-sport and adventure races such as Coast to Coast in New Zealand and has won Coast to Coast Scotland.
It was Andy's own struggles with cramp and hydration that led to him specialising in electrolyte replenishment and founding the company he now runs; Precision Fuel & Hydration. Through Precision Fuel & Hydration, Andy has worked with countless professional teams and athletes in sports as diverse as the NFL, NBA, MLB, Premier League Football, World Tour Cycling and World and Olympic medallists in many endurance events.
Tom Lowe
A specialist in radio and satellite communications, Tom will ensure all our athletes and support staff stay informed, safe and connected throughout the event.
Tom brings vast experience in telecommunications, a deep knowledge of the latest radio technology, and a thorough understanding of the reliable, secure solutions required for remote regions such as Scotland’s west coast.
All the equipment used by Tom and his highly experienced team of Motorola-certified engineers come from the world’s leading brand. As such, you know you’re in safe hands.
Before providing leading communications support for events, Tom also had a successful military and endurance sports career.
He spent nine years in the British Special Forces as a communications specialist, working in a close-knit team in some of the world’s more hostile environments and putting his physical and mental fortitude to the test.
An avid and lifelong endurance athlete, he went on to become a professional triathlete and held the men’s British Ironman record for several years, achieving numerous Ironman 70.3 wins, many Ironman podiums, and an 11th place at the 2011 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
On retiring from professional sport, Tom has chosen to combine his passion for endurance sports with his expertise in radio communications, setting up Ultra Six, a company which provides two-way radio communications to a large range of organisations and events. He finds the testing conditions that play a leading role in extreme events a welcome and enjoyable challenge.
James Armour
With a background in adventure and endurance events, having set his own world record James Armour has a flair for motion and exploration. It was only at the age of 21 that James took it beyond the UK, solo crossing the Indian subcontinent by motorbike - over 5,000km of varied terrain, from the jungles of Kerala, through the oil fields of Gujrat and finally landing upon the snowy mountain tops of Himachal Pradesh.
Upon his return, he grew fascinated with human performance and our perceived limitations, embarking on a fitness journey which saw him within a few weeks take on a marathon, within a year an iron man and finally set a world record at home in Scotland for a 53-hour swim, run and cycle of the entire length of the Outer Hebridean islands in support of the Hebridean whale and dolphin trust.
This epic endurance feat involved swimming the length of the English Channel(33km) in open Atlantic water through the night, alongside a 2.5x marathon and ironman-distance bike leg.
His experiences in sales and marketing comes from B2B sales, copywriting and promotional video creation alongside grassroots corporate fundraising, which he is excited to apply to the context of the world's most premium ultra endurance event at home in Scotland.
Ryan Sosna-Bowd
With over 20 years of sports management and marketing experience in endurance sports at all levels, Ryan advises on your athlete journey and Highland Kings event experience.
Having worked across the globe, he has helped launch and develop endurance events for thousands of athletes to participate, giving him a phenomenal network of experts and brands to draw upon.
Ryan has also coached goal-orientated triathletes, runners, cyclists and swimmers for over two decades, helping them enjoy the journey and develop a lifelong passion for endurance sports. Among them have been Marathon des Sables and ultra running finishers, Ironman World Championship qualifiers, solo and relay Channel swimmers and an Enduroman Arch to Arc world record holder.
As an avid endurance athlete, Ryan has completed hundreds of triathlons and ultra endurance events including a three-person Channel relay swim, the Marathon des Sables and riding across America in 2006 with heralded cancer campaigner, the late, great Jane Tomlinson.
Alex Paxton
Sporting Concierge
Our sporting concierge will help manage your athlete journey, ensure you book in for your one-on-one and group sessions, receive exclusive training content and advice, and supply your performance equipment and nutrition.
As a qualified personal trainer, exercise nutrition coach and multisport endurance, Alex hosts weekly circuit classes and regular one-to-one consultations and training sessions. As an athlete he has completed numerous marathons, triathlons, Ironman triathlons and multi-day ultra marathon.
Having previously worked in the high-pressure environment of London’s media industry Alex also understands how to balance life, work and training to get the best from himself and others and will answer questions and connect you with the other coaches and experts as needed.
John Greenfield
In charge of event safety, John has years of expertise in leading remote and offshore medical and rescue teams.
A registered paramedic, remote health care practitioner and rope rescue supervisor, his skills and qualifications extend to being a safety boat coxswain, and floods and swift water rescue instructor. He’s also a registered competent person for the inspection and certification of personnel protective equipment for work and rescue.
John formed a first-of-its-kind high access rescue team in Glasgow in 1990, and draws considerable experience from his time with HM Special Forces as a long range reconnaissance patrol medic reservist. He has developed techniques for rescue at height and in confined spaces, and has risen through the ranks within the Parachute Regiment 15sv Battalion as a PT instructor and abseil supervisor.
Having started his career as a steeplejack in the construction industry, John also still works as a remote medic and occupational health and safety adviser on North Sea oil rigs, platforms and dive support vessels, as well as other challenging, remote and often hostile areas around
the world.
“Some of the big wins were the spectacular camp set-up, the individual tents and camp life was really well organised, the food was excellent, the camaraderie was great, and the structure of us having the shared physical therapy tent and separate dining tent brought us altogether in pain and delight – and great food. The scenery on the runs was gorgeous and everyday was different.”
- Adam, USA