Fancy taking part in a giant relay to celebrate Britain's wild country?

The John Muir Trust is asking participants to cover 2 500 miles walking, running, cycling, paddling and sailing while making the least possible environmental impact.

The good news is: you don't have to cover all 2 500 individually. Four routes converge on Ben Nevis in late August, then there's a final leg to Edinburgh. Four message batons, in the form of walking staffs crafted from native British hardwoods, will be passed between participants in the relay before they are incorporated into a sculpture at the end of the journey.

Three of the routes start in Scotland, while  the southern route began in May at Sennen Cove, Cornwall. At the other end of Britain, the northern route got underway on 21 June at Muckle Flugga, Shetland.

The western route begins on 1 July at Berneray and the last, shortest route is the eastern one starting, on 20 July, with a kayak journey from Aberdeen's North Beach.

There are still lots of places on offer. Check out the John Muir Trust website for details.

The event aims to raise the profile of the trust, named after a Dunbar-born pioneering conservationist who emigrated to the USA in the middle of the 19th century. The organisation which bears his name came into being in 1983 and campaigns for the conservation of wilderness environments. Its volunteers hit the national news headlines when they turned up an old electric organ on the summit of Ben Nevis during a recent cairn clean-up.