AFTER five days and 16 hours on the roads of Europe Lieutenant Commander Martin Lanni from Kendal and two other Scottish airmen from HMS Gannet Royal Navy Search and Rescue Unit have ended their epic endurance journey from Glasgow to St Petersburg.
More used to the controls of a Sea King helicopter, the three hung up their flight suits and hit the road for a five-day trip to the Russian city.
Although they arrived at 3am at the Estonia Russia border, with the end tantalisingly just 100 miles
away, it took the lads a further three hours on bad roads, with a speeding ticket thrown in for good measure, before they reached their destination.
The three friends and colleagues - Lieutenant Commander Martin Lanni, Lieutenant James Bullock (both Sea King helicopter pilots - from Kendal and York respectively) and Petty Officer Daz Craig (rescue aircrewman from Glasgow) - battled boredom, frustration, smelliness, pouring rain, searing heat and much else besides in their quest to raise cash for Yorkhill Children's Foundation and the Number 1 St Petersburg Hospital children's burns unit.
'Setting themselves just six days to complete this mammoth 10,000km non-stop trek on a circuitous route through 21 European capital cities, the trio was on the road for more than five and a half days.
"We crossed into Russia on the Sunday and with only a few miles to go to St Petersburg, we thought we were home and dry," said Martin, a former pupil of Queen Katherine School.
"We couldn't believe it when James got done for speeding, which was just incredible – we were barely able to get over 30 miles an hour because of the roads – typical, he's been driving for years and never been done for speeding before.
"The last wee stretch just seemed to go on and on forever and then we couldn't find our way round St Petersburg - it was the first time we'd got even remotely lost in the whole 10,000km.
"But we did it, which was just great. All we wanted to do when we got there was just sleep."
