On Sunday the 27th June I ran the Mont Blanc marathon in the French Alps (http://www.montblancmarathon.net/index.php?rub=99&langue=an) which was not only extremely hilly but involved a total of 2511 metres of climbing at an altitude of 1000-2200m which made it even tougher, not to mention the extreme heat!

 

To prepare me for the hills of the alps I ran one of the toughest races in Yorkshire, the Yorkshire 3 Peaks fell race on the 24th April which is a marathon course taking in the 3 highest hills in Yorkshire - Whernside, Pen-Y-Ghent and Ingleborough.  For a view of thre course profile, please see http://www.threepeaksrace.org.uk/RouteProfile2.gif.  Yes, that IS rather hilly and had previously been pretty wet and boggy when I did some training runs on the course.  The actual race day turned out to be very dry underfoot, hot and sunny and I felt pretty good heading up Pen-y-Ghent, flying down the other side and making the checkpoint at Ribblehead in well under the cut-off time limit.  However, not long after that I started to feel quite tired and sick of sports drink and gels and did a slow plod up Whernside along with everyone else but was happy to make the Hill Inn checkpoint with 11 minutes to spare before the cut-off time.  Ingleborough was another tough one and as I plodded up, I was surrounded by runners and walkers stopping to rest and stretch, or screaming with cramp!  We all struggled to the finish from Ingleborough, our feet barely shuffling us forward but I managed to finish in 5:04:06.  I heard that 100 runners didn't finish so I was very pleased to get round and without any injury.  Now I just need to make sure I get nore distance under my belt and work on my hill climbs!

 

Since these are the toughest physical races I have competed in, I decided it was worth asking you all to cough up your hard earned cash and support a well-deserved charity, the Upper Wharfdale and Fell Rescue Association (UWFRA).  This is my local mountain rescue voluntary group and they assist the Yorkshire community in many ways - here is a list of some of their recent work. http://www.uwfra.org.uk/d5/pnl2010callouts.  Mountain rescue services are run by volunteers and need public support so please donate what you can, especially if you, your friends or family members, participate in any outdoor activity that may one day require their services. 

 

Please note that participation in these marathons has been organised by myself, with me covering the costs of entry fees, transport and accommodation, therefore 100% of your donation is going straight to the charity.

 

UWFRA is a registered charity. Like other mountain and cave rescue teams in the UK it receives no funding from central Government. The team is run entirely by volunteers and has no paid members of staff.

The everyday funding of UWFRA is by donations from the public. This money comes from a variety of sources: collecting boxes throughout the area, kind donations from various groups, individuals or organisations, street collections; and fund raising events.The money raised is used to pay for insurance, maintenance and running of our two emergency vehicles, operating and up keep of our base, and the replacement of rescue and medical equipment.  Your money will be used to buy such items as:

 

Waterproof Note Books - £9.00

OS Explorer Maps - £9.00

Single Radio Battery Chargers £30.00

20m 11mm Dynamic Rope - £32.00

100m Rope Bag - £40.00

Bosch Drill Batteries - £65.00

1450 Pelicase £120.00

Vehicle Service £210.00

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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 the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

 

Thanks to http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine for promoting my event and this website.