The "devastated" family of Team GB runner Chris Smith who went missing in the Scottish Highlands have paid tribute to him.
Chris Smith, 43, set off for a run from Invervar near Aberfeldy at about 15:00 on Tuesday.
He planned to run Meall nan Aighean, Carn Mairg, Meall Garbh and Carn Gorm before returning at 5pm.
Yesterday, after three days of searching, a body was found in Glen Lyon, near to Meall Garbh.
Police Scotland said: “Police Scotland can confirm that at around 11:50am on Thursday, 29 October, 2020, the body of a man was found near to Meall Garbh in the Glenlyon area.
"Formal identification has yet to take place however the family of missing 43-year-old Chris Smith has been informed. Enquiries remain ongoing and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due course.”
RIP Chris Smith GB mountain racing international, exceptional competitive XC record at Parliament Hill in particular, former second claim @hrnhillharriers Surrey League team member & Div 1 race winner but above all a wonderful man, our thoughts are with Lyndsay & the boys pic.twitter.com/43QsCZiguO
— Herne Hill Harriers (@hrnhillharriers) October 29, 2020
Now, a statement has been released by Chris's family, who say they will "always treasure his energy, spirit and love."
The statement read: "On behalf of the entire family, we are devastated to let you know that Chris has lost his life in Glen Lyon.
"He was doing what he loved having spent the previous days having the most special time with Lindsay, Cameron and Alastair.
"We would like to thank everyone for the support they have given us, in particular the mountain rescue teams, emergency services, members of the public and Chris's friends that joined the search.
"We will always treasure his energy, spirit and love. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here