Pippa Middleton made a VIP entrance to her latest charity endurance challenge, dropping in on the starting line for a coast-to-coast race across the Scottish Highlands in a $1,618-an-hour helicopter, The Mail on Sunday reported.
While others endured a two-and-a-half hour drive from Inverness Airport, Middleton — who rose to global prominence after her older sister's wedding to Prince William — shared a 25-minute flight to the small village of Morvich, on the northwestern coast, with three friends for the 11 a.m. local time start Saturday.
But the 27-year-old's pampered entrance was quickly replaced by hard work, well exceeding her athletic efforts earlier in the month, when she ran the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) leg of a team triathlon.
The Highland Cross Challenge's grueling duathlon saw the lycra-clad Middleton race 20 miles on foot before a further 30 miles on a bike.
She showed fine form on the day, though, arriving in the end town of Beauly in five hours and nine minutes to finish within the top 15 women — in a field of 160.
"I am really tired," she said after completing the muddy course in heavy winds. "It was one of the toughest things I have done. I don't know if I will do it again, but I am really pleased to have finished."
John Fraser, the event organizer, described Middleton's run as a "cracking result."
He told Scotland on Sunday, "She was complaining that the wind was against her most of the way, as were most of the competitors, and she could have finished a lot quicker. Pippa is obviously a very good athlete."
