{"id":546241,"date":"2026-04-23T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546241\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:42:09","slug":"grandsons-ride-in-memory-of-grandmother-aileen-ligertwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/546241\/","title":{"rendered":"Grandsons ride in memory of grandmother Aileen Ligertwood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When three grandsons line up at the start of the Etape Loch Ness<\/a> this Sunday, they won\u2019t just be tackling 66 miles of hills, headwinds and sore legs – they\u2019ll be riding in memory of the grandmother who inspired them all.<\/p>\n

Brothers Martin Kennedy and Stuart Manock, along with their cousin Craig Wilson, are taking on the challenge to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support<\/a>, a cause close to their hearts following the death of their grandma, Aileen Ligertwood.<\/p>\n

\"BrothersBrothers Martin Kennedy (right) and Stuart Manock (left) are taking part in the 66-mile sportive alongside their cousin Craig Wilson.<\/p>\n

Aileen, who passed away last year aged 93, spent much of her life fundraising for Macmillan in Inverness and was awarded the charity\u2019s Chairman\u2019s Medal in recognition of her long service.<\/p>\n

She also played a key role in the early development of what is now the Etape Loch Ness, helping to organise one of the first rides decades ago.<\/p>\n

What began as a small event with a handful of participants has grown into one of Scotland\u2019s biggest cycling sportives, with the modern Etape Loch Ness officially established in 2014.<\/p>\n

\"AileenAileen Ligertwood was involved in organising the original sponsored cycle around Loch Ness – a route that later became the Etape sportive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Gran saying to us they didn’t think anyone would turn up to the event,\u201d Martin said. \u201cBack then, there weren\u2019t phones or social media, so it was very much just word of mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 30 people showed up for that first ride – a number Martin said organisers were \u201cabsolutely astounded\u201d by.<\/p>\n

Today, the sportive attracts around 6000 cyclists from around the world – something he believes his grandma would have found hard to imagine.<\/p>\n

The idea to take part came from Martin himself, with the challenge seeing riders complete a 66-mile circuit of Loch Ness,<\/a> starting and finishing in Inverness and taking in around 900m of ascent.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did a lot of fundraising for Macmillan, and also helped with the Etape event, which we’d obviously heard her speaking about,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought this would be a really good tribute. It gives it a bit more meaning to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AileenAileen Ligertwood.<\/p>\n

His cousins agreed – despite one major obstacle.<\/p>\n

\u201cStuart and Craig didn\u2019t even have bikes!\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s how unprepared we were.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when we got our bikes, that made obviously a big difference. We could get on with the training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, the trio – based between Edinburgh and London – have been juggling training plans across different cities, sharing updates and trying to build fitness ahead of the big day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all at a reasonable level of fitness, but you do need to build those cycling legs,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a case of going to the gym and thinking you\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CraigCraig Wilson will be travelling up from London for the event.<\/p>\n

Family has been central to their motivation throughout. Martin described Aileen as \u201ca really kind, good-spirited woman\u201d who helped keep the wider family close and spent years fundraising, often knitting items for those in need alongside her charity work.<\/p>\n

Her husband, John Ligertwood, still lives in Inverness at the age of 94 and is expected to be there cheering them on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really lucky to still have our Granda around at that age,\u201d Martin said. \u201cHopefully we can do him proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AileenAileen was awarded the Macmillan Cancer Relief Chairman\u2019s Medal for long and valued service to the charity.<\/p>\n

For the cousins, the ride is about more than just cycling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a charity that’s really close to our hearts,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s what made it feel like a no-brainer for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they prepare to meet in Inverness this weekend, Martin says he is most looking forward to sharing the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting time with my brother and my cousin and soaking it all in,\u201d he said. \u201cWe used to go to Dores quite a lot as a family to walk the dogs, so there are certain bits of the route where it’ll be just nice to think back to those happy memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd our support will be there at the finish line to celebrate with us – it’ll be really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, like many riders, he admits there is one extra incentive waiting at the finish line:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Harry Gow doughnuts – that\u2019s definitely something to look forward to!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin (left) and his brother Stuart (right) will join their cousin Craig for the 66km race on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Etape Loch Ness will take place on Sunday, April 26.<\/p>\n

Visit the trio\u2019s JustGiving page<\/a> to find out more or to donate.<\/p>\n

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here<\/a> to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When three grandsons line up at the start of the Etape Loch Ness this Sunday, they won\u2019t just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[7840,4985,192,24463,913,101,56,54,55,7741,3520],"class_list":{"0":"post-546241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-community","9":"tag-cycling","10":"tag-human-interest","11":"tag-inspire-me","12":"tag-latest-news","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom","17":"tag-update-me","18":"tag-whats-on-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}