Billy's 90 Munros in 90 days

26 June 2025

Billy Herron is currently hiking around Scotland, taking on the mountainous challenge of climbing 90 Munros in 90 days. He’s doing it in memory of his school friend Malcolm Dowie and to raise funds for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. Malcolm, who was living with motor neuron disease (MND) died in 2016, around the same time that Doddie received his own MND diagnosis.

“I visited Malcolm a few months before he died,” Billy recalls, “and I promised myself that at some point I would try and do something to raise money for MND research.”

A Munro is a Scottish mountain with an elevation of over 3,000 feet (914 metres), and there are 282 of them. Billy began his challenge on 4 April, and at time of writing, he has so far completed 55 of the 90 Munros he has set out to do. A couple days of difficult weather have changed the course of Billy’s challenge slightly, and he is expecting to finish the 90th Munro around 9-10 July.

Billy chose the number 90 deliberately. “I wanted the challenge to be significant,” he says. “If you take the average height of a Munro to be 1,000m, then I will have climbed the equivalent of 10 times the height of Everest.”

He has already completed 80 other Munros, meaning when he concludes this challenge in July, he will have hiked up 170 overall. 

Growing up on a farm, Billy has always loved spending time outdoors. “I was also very sporty, so health and fitness have been an important part of my life. As I’ve gotten older, walking and the hills have become a more significant part of that for me, not just from an exercise point of view, but also from a mental health point of view as I can go and lose myself in nature and de-stress.”

In terms of organising the challenge, Billy started planning 18 months ago, with most thought going into which hills to climb. To make the 90 day timeframe realistic, he had to choose Munros situated relatively close to main roads and avoid any long approach hikes.

To keep costs down, Billy has been sleeping in either his tent or his car, depending on the weather. His car is packed with everything he needs, and he restocks in towns such as Ullapool or Fort William - or occasionally when he returns home for other commitments.

“The one thing I haven’t been able to plan for is the good old Scottish weather,” Billy remarks. “It was amazing to get that fantastic spell of sunny weather in May. I got heaps done then, but I have lost quite a few days to the weather, in particular in high winds.

“I’m quite happy wandering up a hill in the rain and not getting a view from the top due to low cloud, but I’m not happy wandering about at height in high winds. I believe that I shouldn’t be putting myself in danger, or more importantly those who end up having to rescue me. The hills are not going anywhere, I can always come back another time.”

Despite Billy checking weather forecasts multiple times, the conditions in the hills can still be unpredictable. “Until you get up there you don’t really know what to expect, that can be disheartening,” he admits, “but I’d always put safety first.” 

Speaking about the other tough moments of his challenge so far, Billy has said the first couple of weeks were particularly difficult: “The first week went well, but then we had some bad weather and I began to think I would never get to 90 Munros. I seemed to get stuck in a bit in the 20s and 90 seemed a long way away. But that great spell of weather and getting past 45, the halfway mark, made a big difference.”

He’s also discovered a personal nemesis along the way: “I’ve come to realise I hate boulder fields, which is a bit of a problem, as nearly all the Munros have them to a smaller or larger extent!”

Still, Billy remains determined: “None one of them are insurmountable. Patience, determination, willpower, a desire to succeed - or not fail - is a great driver. I know, for sure, it is highly unlikely I’ll complete the challenge in the 90 days now, but I’m okay with that. I’m going to do the 90 Munros, and if it takes an extra five, 10 or 15 days, I’m not going to beat myself up about it.” 

The stretch of sunny weather in May brought glorious views, but for Billy, the highlights go beyond scenery. Encounters with wildlife - from watching eagles riding the thermals in the Fannichs to finding tiny frogs hundreds of metres up on the slopes - have made lasting impressions. “Each and every hill is so unique in so many different ways, you just have to take each one as it is and enjoy.”

“But so far I think my greatest highlight to date was getting my friend Simon to the top of Geal Charn, he has had his knees replaced in the last couple of years and it’s been a hard road back to fitness. But taking it nice and slow and steady, he made it to the top. We celebrated with a little medicinal fluid!”

Whilst Billy’s challenge is an unsupported solo effort, up most hills he has met other hikers who are more than happy to stop and talk. One of them - Terry (known as Odin’s Raven on Instagram) - captured the spectacular drone footage of Billy at the summit of Sgurr na Sgine. 

“What has surprised me most,” Billy says, “is that when I mention what I’m doing, a large proportion immediately say that they know of someone who has/had MND, just indicating how ‘common’ it is. As well, I’ve often found that a good chat with someone on the hills has resulted in a donation appearing a day or two later.”

Billy is due to finish his 90 Munros around 9-10 July, with the 90th one being Ben Cruachan in the Southern Highlands. You can donate to his JustGiving page and contribute to MND research by clicking here, and follow the rest of his progress on Instagram at @mountainsformnd_90