Leading ultrarunner and inspirational coach Paweł Cymbalista, fourth in the Montane Winter Spine Race recently, has become the first winner of a prestigious new Mountain Award.
Cymbalista grew up in Poland but moved to the Scottish Highlands in 2013, since when he has transformed his lifestyle – including ditching 20 cigarettes a day – and gone on to set numerous ultrarunning records.
‘Dropped over 30kgs’
A lovely citation from the organisers of The Fort William Mountain Festival gives more details on what is an incredible story.
They posted on Instagram: “We are delighted to announce that Paweł 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).
“Paweł 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.”
Incredible feats
And since then, the running accolades have flowed. The post continues: “Following this, Paweł’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.”
They include fastest known times (FKTs) on routes such as the Cape Wrath Trail, the Highland 4 and the West Highland Way.
He’s also the world record holder for going up and down Ben Nevis seven times inside 24 hours.
The tribute added: “Alongside his epic personal running achievements, Paweł is a big advocate for other people’s running, whether that’s supporting on other people’s goals (particularly the Ramsay Round) or through his coaching business which he is incredibly passionate about.”
Spine success
In January of this year, Pawel achieved a long-time ambition when he not only took part in the Winter Spine Race – which is billed as ‘Britain’s most brutal’ ultramarathon – but finished a superb fourth.
France’s Sébastien Raichon was the winner with James Hargreaves just pipping Cymbalista for the final spot on the podium, with the pair of them nearly 10 hours ahead of the fifth male runner home.
Pawel has since penned a brilliant report which you can read here and starts with him saying: “For seven years I followed the Spine Race like some people follow royal drama — obsessively, emotionally, and with absolutely no chill. The sheer scale of it never made sense to me. How do humans move for that long, that fast, through that much misery?
“Every January I’d watch the dots crawl north and think, one day that’ll be me. I tried to enter a few times, but the waiting list treated me like an unwanted Tinder match. One year I finally got in… and had to decline. That one hurt. Proper heartbreak. The kind you feel in your shins.
“But I kept testing myself. Different distances, different routes, different versions of suffering. And somehow, all those miles led me here…”
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