Finlay Wild

Early life and professional career

Wild was born on 8 September 1984 in Fort William. He gained an affinity with the outdoors through his parents Roger Wild, a mountain guide, and Fiona (née Hinde), an accomplished hill runner who won the Three Peaks Race in 1981 and the Carnethy 5 in 1981 and 1982. He was educated at Fort William primary school and Lochaber High School, then graduated with a medical degree from the University of Aberdeen. He works as a general practitioner in Lochaber.

Sporting career

Wild came to prominence through the Ben Nevis Race which he first won in 2010. He has won the race every year since and his tally of seven victories is higher than that of any other man in the history of the event.

In 2012, he set a new course record for the Glamaig Hill Race, breaking the previous best set by Mark Rigby in 1997. Wild's other wins include the Carnethy 5, Goatfell races 2013–2015, the Isle of Jura in 2015 and 2016 and Stuc a' Chroin. He won the British Fell Running Championships in 2015.

In 2016, Wild's results in the Tromsø Skyrace and the Glen Coe Skyline gave him third place in the Extreme section of the Skyrunner World Series.

In October 2016, he set a record time of 10:15:30 for Tranter's Round in the mountains around Glen Nevis.

He has the fastest known time for the Cuillin Ridge traverse on the Isle of Skye, completing the crossing in 2:59:22 in 2013. In February 2016, Wild paired up Tim Gomersall to make a winter crossing of the Cuillin Ridge, in a time that is yet to be contested.

Wild has also competed in ski mountaineering and was the British champion in that sport in 2016 as well as the Scottish Skimo series winner in the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 seasons.

Artwork

Some of Wild's paintings were displayed as a solo exhibition at the John Muir Trust's Wild Space Gallery in Pitlochry for eight weeks in early 2016.