Open-access content
Monday 2nd November 2015
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updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020
Peak of fitness
I'm not someone who is given to doing Big Exercise, so I think it surprised friends and colleagues all round when I signed up to take part in the Peak District Challenge on 18 September. For the uninitiated, that's an ultra-marathon of 75 kilometres in 24 hours, starting at 9pm and forgoing sleep to trek through the night over the Peak District.
It was a beautiful day without rain, and there were many stunning sights. But it was also gruelling. The lowest point morale-wise was at 5am, when temperatures dropped to six degrees and we couldn't see anything. Close second goes to the last 10 miles climbing up two tors.
However, I must have been enjoying myself, as our team accidentally walked an extra 10km! Or that was something to do with map-reading. That made our total distance 52 miles - a double marathon - in 21 hours and 39 minutes.
A huge thank you must go to our well-wishers and generous donors. We were supporting Challenge 30: a year-long campaign to raise £30,000 for S.A.L.V.E International, a Ugandan and UK-run charity working with children living on the streets of Uganda. The money raised will be used to build a new home for the children.
If you would like to donate, please visit bit.ly/1jCYy5a
It was a beautiful day without rain, and there were many stunning sights. But it was also gruelling. The lowest point morale-wise was at 5am, when temperatures dropped to six degrees and we couldn't see anything. Close second goes to the last 10 miles climbing up two tors.
However, I must have been enjoying myself, as our team accidentally walked an extra 10km! Or that was something to do with map-reading. That made our total distance 52 miles - a double marathon - in 21 hours and 39 minutes.
A huge thank you must go to our well-wishers and generous donors. We were supporting Challenge 30: a year-long campaign to raise £30,000 for S.A.L.V.E International, a Ugandan and UK-run charity working with children living on the streets of Uganda. The money raised will be used to build a new home for the children.
If you would like to donate, please visit bit.ly/1jCYy5a
