On the 18^th February my daughter Nicole was born. She spent 3 months in intensive care at Kings Hospital and I was really impressed with the care she received. As well as looking after critically ill babies the doctors and nurses there have to prioritise their limited resources, making some difficult decisions and then having to explain these to parents.  I want to raise some money to increase the resources at their disposal, so a few of those decisions can be easier in future.

I’ve cobbled together a sort of ‘triathlon’ which I’m hoping you’ll sponsor me to complete. I’m sure I’m going to enjoy doing it but it would be really good to raise as much as possible for the hospital along the way. So what I’m going to do is cycle, run and swim:

Cycle - 4^th July       Cycle Mont Ventoux en brompton - Complete - Update below.
Run - 10^th July       3 Peaks Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, Snowdon - Complete - Update below
Swim - 29^th August Escape from Alcatraz - Complete - Update below

Cycle - 4^th July Cycle Mont Ventoux - Mont Ventoux has become legendary as the scene of one of the most gruelling climbs in the Tour de France I’ve been training on Crystal palace which is one of the biggest climbs in London at 112m but Ventoux is almost 20 times higher at 1912m. I’m doing this with my two brothers, but I’m going up on my trusty Brompton fold up bike which as far as I can ascertain, will be a first.

Run - 10^th July 3 Peaks Challenge – The highest points in Scotland, England and Wales, all within 24 hours. Ben Nevis (1,344m), Scafell Pike (978m), Snowdon(1,085). This might be more of a jog than a run given we have to cover about 26 miles in all and it’s a bit hilly, most of the 24 hours will be spent driving between them

Swim - 29^th August Escape from Alcatraz – This is a swim from the prison on the Island of Alcatraz to Down town San Francisco. Stories of Sharks, Freezing waters and strong currents were all exaggerations of the prison guards to deter people from trying to escape (I think). I’m more worried about all the sea lions on the dock. It’s about 1 ½ miles which I’ll be doing with my brothers.

The Cycle
I was amazed at how generous people sponsoring were and at 600m up with 1300m to go that was the only thing keeping me going. The Brompton made it, much to the amusement of the French, but it was so hard. I got up in 3h15m. My brothers and brother in Law all made it too, I wasn’t first but I wasn’t last either.  The way down was a great run, it took 27mins to cover the distance of 21km, averaging 47km/h and touching 85km at the fastest point. I’ll be surprised if a Brompton has ever gone faster!

The Run (more of a walk really but it feels like I spent 12 hours on a step machine)
4am we started up Ben Nevis, crossing the snow to reach the summit, At 3:30pm we were at Scarfell, this one claimed alot of casualties, it was very hot and humid and we passed 3 stretchers on our way down. At midnight we set on up Snowdon, it driving rain and 70mph winds. But we all got back in a total of 23 hours 24 mins.

The Swim
This is a great experience, I had a few nerves at the start as this was the only one where failure wasn't an option (I don't float). I swam to the east as the tide was turning which should have resulted in a strong westerly current towards the golden gate over the last half. The current never came so it was an unneccessary detour. Coming into the beach was great, loads of crowds cheering and a sprint finish got me inside the hour. The pictures are a download from my GPS watch.

Please help me raise some money, it will all go directly to Kings, I’m funding the cost of doing all this myself and really looking forward to the adventure.

Thanks

Ben