"This sounds like ridiculous fun."
I literally laughed out loud at this. Then I remembered that you've done 750 mile bike rides for "fun", so never mind. :P
I didn't see the Kili comparison until you pointed it out, but yeah, totally. That night had the advantage of a full moon, but it was still super hard.
Look up Couch to 5K and start it, then do intervals to get faster. :-)