Hello!!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
What's he doing now?
On the 5th December this year I will attempt to complete the Everest Marathon, the worlds highest marathon from just below Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazaar. The course covers 26.2 miles and totals approximately 2,200m of descent and 450m of ascent (the longest 450m I'll ever run!) and the start is reached after a 16 day trek through the Himalayas. The weather can be variable and temperatures can drop as low as -20 C and that's all before taking the extremes of altitude on the body into account...
Is he crazy?
Probably, but there are 3 very good reasons for doing it:
1) Trek the Himalayas and see Everest
2) Do something to tell the grand kids about
3) Raise money for grass roots health and education development projects in Nepal
So he wants my money in a time of economic crisis?
In short...yes.
To put things into perspective: Nepal is a country that is among the 5 poorest in the world - 49% of the population live below the poverty line. Just a small donation is enough to make a huge difference. All money donated will go towards charitable projects.
Now, in comparison to the endurance and strength of the Nepalese I am pretty pathetic (since the race's inception no one outside Nepal has actually won the race...). Therefore, aside from the physical nature of the event itself, the hardest thing has been the last 3 months of training and the next 3 months of training whilst staying healthy for the event as I travel round Japan and India (I know this was my choice...). At least Delhi Belly coupled with "extreme" heat and humidity will get me to 'race weight' quicker than normal!
There are numerous good causes to donate money towards but I hope that the challenge I face and the charity I am doing it for will convince you to dig deep and help sponsor me! If that's not enough then think about my poor girlfriend that I'm dragging along with me to help marshall the race and who will have to nurse me back to health afterwards!!
Cheers,
Ben
