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What better way to start 2010 than by planning a challenge - and here it is.....'Challenge Greyhounds 2010'!
I will be riding the 'Fred Whitton Challenge' a 112mile bike event that takes in all the mountain passes in the Lake District in one ride. I have to say, I spent my teenage cycling years avoiding all of them and did so successfully. However, on the 9th May 2010, I will ride them all in one event.
On 15th August 2010, we will be swimming, cycling and running for all we are worth as team 'Reality Check' in the German 70.3 Ironman Triathlon. We will be competing as a relay team to cover the 1.2mile open water swim through the waters of the River Rhine, a 56miles bike section around Wiesbaden, culminating in a half marathon around the city centre. This will be a first for Tim (Serge's boss - oops!) in the open water swim, I am hoping he is part fish, so we should be ok. I will take my bike around what should feel like a flat bike course (I hope) and Serge will bring home the baton in what will be a most definate first and who knows the first of many or first and last half marathon event - only time will tell......
Thats's Who and What we are doing - this is the Why and How...........
There are through the unscrupulous and thoughtless actions of a few people many Greyhounds and lurchers in desperate need every single year. These hounds rely on volunteers and charities who work tirelessly to provide shelter, treatment, care and ultimately find kind, caring homes for them. Inturn Greyhounds & lurchers make quite wonderful companions, and family pets, and are reknowned for their calm and gentle disposition and their love of home comforts.
Without donations this magnificent work would not be possible.
A donation of £5.00 will provide a single, routine treatment for worms or an identity tag for one hound.
£10.00 will provide a secure, comfortable leather collar or a warm, fleecy kennel coat for one hound.
£20.00 will provide a windproof, fleece-lined rain jacket essential to keep out the cold and damp for one hound or will enable one hound to be micro-chipped and an identity record kept for life.
£45.00 will enable one hound to be vaccinated and prevent the onset of a number of serious diseases for one year.
£100.00 will provide essential veterinary treatment to spay or castrate one hound and prevent their exploitation through breeding.
These are examples of how your donation maybe used. However big or small your donation, you can be sure that it will go directly to help treat, alleviate, and prevent suffering of Greyhounds and lurchers. Please help us to continue to provide care and essential veterinary treatment for these most loving and gentle dogs and keep them in safe, warm, clean kennels whilst we find the caring, loving homes they so much deserve.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to GRWE and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - We raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. Your donation is very important to us and will go straight to helping Greyhounds and Greyhound crosses
So please donate what you can, it really does make a difference - Just ask Charlie, Jasper and Hamish.
Update 10th May 2010
A 4am breakfast, and a chilly 6am start in Coniston the day could only get better, ordinarily 'yes' but not if you are about to start the 'Fred Whitton Challenge 2010'.
Yesterday, was a day of truly mammoth effort in conquering every single mountain pass in the Lake District and every hill in between of which (take it from me) there are many!
I hauled myself around the course (114miles) in 9 hours 10minutes (+ 14mins compulsory time checks). I am just hoping that it wasn't a dream or rather a nightmare and that I have still got it to do...........
A short rest and then training and fund raising continues to be ready for the German Ironman 70.3 in August 2010 when team 'Reality Check' including Sergine, Tim and Max take on the next and final leg of our 'Challenge Greyhounds 2010'.
If you would like to make a donation, it really does make a difference to the lives of hundreds of rescued Greyhounds and all those hounds still waiting to find comfort and a forever home of their own - please donate what you can.
Update 3rd August 2010
Well, we are fast approaching our wind down from our seemingly endless training regime and our concerns of whether we are over training, or undertraining are slowly being replaced with feelings of excitement and apprehension wondering just how wet the water will be, how hilly the hills really are and how flat the run course might be?
However, what we do know is that we have been blown away by people's generosity and support. Together we can make a difference.
Here's to the next 12-days whizzing by!
Update 18th August 2010
9.30am Sunday morning saw the start of the Ironman Relay for team 'Reality Check'. The weather played its part in making the event an even greater challenge with heavy, downpours of rain being the order of the day.
A mass start in the River Rhein saw Tim start the first leg of the race. He certainly swam as though he was part fish, exiting the 1.2 mile stretch of water and completing the sprint run to Transition 1 in a little over 34 minutes.
A quick swap of the timing chip and 56 miles of a hilly bike course which included 1500m of vertical climbing around the Rheingauer region. The climbs were long and the descents fast and hairy as the deluge of rain continued. The final descent about the only truly straight descent of the day saw my speedometer tip 46mph, at that point my brain took over thankfully and I decided to tweak the brakes. 3hours 43minutes and it was done and all in one piece, in itself no mean feat given the dreadful conditions.
Serge had a long wait, but all of a sudden she was on and in a quick fire hand over of the race number and timing chip she was off on her first of four laps which made up the 13.2miles race distance. It has to be said she was like a 'clock work mouse'; you wind her up and off she went drilling out lap after lap with only 6minutes difference from her first to her last lap; 2 hours 45 and she was done....in fact really well done!
A great race, great fun (I think) and a great some of money raised for those wonderful hounds!
We would like to take this opportunity to say a big, big THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to read our web page and make a donation to a cause where every penny really does count and which goes directly to helping and caring for Greyhounds in need.
