Story
Well folks, its been nearly 3 months since Chris and I completed the 69 mile run from Carlisle to Gateshead. My toenails are still falling off one by one, my ankle is nearly back to its normal size and Chris's hamstring has finally recovered.
In total you kindly donated £2,380 plus an additional £449 of giftaid, which means the FSID charity will be receiving £2,829, not bad as our original target was £800. We cannot thank you all enough for your kind donations, and it certainly made those painful miles (miles 3 to 68) seem worthwhile.
We've added a few more photographs to the justgiving site so you can get an understanding of just how wet that weekend was and to prove we did it! The Great North Swim that same weekend was cancelled due to wind and rain, and I'm afraid to say my borrowed tent ended up in the bin on the Sunday morning (sorry T&JL).
The reception we received when crossing the Millennium Bridge at the end was brilliant. There hadn't been anyone finishing for 15 minutes before us so when my dad had spotted us on the other side of the river he informed the man on the mic. He was calling our names are we ran down the Newcastle side of the river, over the bridge and to the finish so the crowd were cheering very loudly. Not surprising looking back at our timing stats that the 69 mile was one of our fastest.
Once again, a huge thank you from Chris and I for your donations, and to family who have supported us along the way and put up with our hours of training. A special thanks to my dad who drove the car from Carlisle to Gateshead, and to the Tom and Nettie for turning up at the halfway point, buying us a beer (!) and helping to pitch our tent and break a rivals tent.
Original Information:
Over the weekend of 23rd/24th June, Chris and I will be taking part in a 70 mile coast to coast run from Carlisle to Gateshead, following the route of Hadrians Wall. This is a 2 day event and we will be camping overnight near the Vindolanda Fort high up in the Pennines.
Back in October 2011 when Chris suggested we attempt this it seemed like a good idea. As the time approaches the thought of running 35 cross-country miles (uphill), sleeping on the floor then getting up and doing it all again (albeit downhill) seems a little daunting. However the training is going well as we are determined to finish, even if it means blisters on blisters.
We are raising money for the FSID charity (Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths) and in memory of Tommy. Although Tommys death wasn't officially a cot death as he was 15 months old at the time, the FSID have been very supportive with their CONI (Care of Next Infant) programme. As well as general support the CONI programme were able to loan Lou and I travel apnoea monitors for Libby and Grace, which provide great reasurrance for parents in our position. Each of these monitors costs approx £400 so our target is to collect enough for 2.
For more details on the event checkout the website:
Thank you very much for your support. We will keep you updated on progress during the last few weeks of training and hopefully post some pictures during the actual run.