You know how it is.  Your knees are 43 but your ego hasn't quite cottoned on to the fact.  So when (after giving the hops some hammer) a friend says to you 'we're doing the Three Peaks Challenge' you say 'I'm up for that!'

Then after two weeks you get the e-mail 'I've booked you a place!'

And at 43 I still lack the common sense to duck out. 

For those of you that aren't aware the Three Peak Challenge is one of those events favoured by masochistic sporty types.   It involves climbing the highest mountains in Scotland, England & Wales. 

Challenge enough for a dedicated pie-botherer I hear you cry.  But there's a twist!

The 'challenge' part is that you attempt to climb them in 24 hours - or as close as you can get.  I'm hoping for under 30 hours although to be honest, anything under three weeks will be a result. 

As I'm going to suffer doing this, I figure that I might as well raise some money for a good cause whilst I'm at it.

I have picked 'Medecins Sans Frontieres'

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid in more than 80 countries to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters or exclusion from healthcare.

In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centres for malnourished children and offers mental health care.

They are currently gearing up to fight an outbreak of kala azar in Southern Sudan.  Kala azar is a parasite spread by the sand fly.   Untreated, it is fatal.  Outbreaks in the late eighties and mid nineties wiped out half the population in some areas.  The good news is that with the right treatment a 95% cure rate can be achieved. 

I'm going to have to 'dig deep' to get up three mountains.  I'd ask you to do the same for MSF.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

John

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