Rebecca McRow-Brewer
Becca's Marathon Trek
Fundraising for Anthony Nolan
Story
Tuesday 6th November - Bungee Jump
So it is 2 days on from the bungee jump and I think my legs are only now beginning to stop shaking!!!!
Why I ever thought that throwing myself off a crane 170ft in the air at a drop speed where 0-60 takes 1.9 seconds on a 8m rubber cord stretched to three times it length would be a good idea I have NO IDEA! I can honestly say that I have actually never been so scared in my whole entire life - and I have fallen into a crevasse! I actually hated every single second on it and still can't quite believe I had the balls to go after 3-2-1 Bungeeeee.........
Three other amazing people joined me in this madness (as you can see from the photo whilst supping our well deserved bottle of champagne) and not one of us bottled it - though there were points that I thought Ghu might lose it completely before he even got in the crane, never has a leg shaked so much!!!! Max annoyingly somehow managed to make it look effortless as he glided out of the cage, very different to my face which looked like I thought I was about to die (which I did), luckily the official photo managed to capture that beauty and believe me it is something to behold! Ghu had raised so much mony from doing this that you do begin to wonder whether it is due to love or hate that people were prepared to sponsor him! The big hero of the day though was Becky who stepped in totally at the last minute which took so much guts and I take my hat off to you lady - a true star! For the people who came down to support us and capture the moment so brilliantly on so many cameras and a video I send out a huge thank you too.
The UK Bungee Club, and in particular Dave for organising it with me, were absolutely brilliant and got us all through it - no one died! If any of you ever fancy putting yourself through this experience then I would look no further than them (www.ukbungee.co.uk) - total professionals who made something very scary a great day out.
Thanks once again to everyone from myself, Ghu, Max and Becky - we have all been astounded once again with your generousity.
Here is to the Boat Party!
Wednesday 3rd October - Mera Peak
“Mera Peak is an isolated 6600m peak that has wrongly been billed as a trekking peak. An ascent involves not only a long arduous ascent over 4 high passes but also a climb up a badly crevassed glacier. To reach the summit involves many techniques required in the sport of alpinism. The crew that recently reached the summit of this mountain can truly feel that they have participated in the hardest charity challenge around today.”
Rolf Oostra, Our Discover Adventure Guide on Mera Peak
What an amazing trip - I can honestly say that I was correct in the statement “this certainly isn’t just a walk up some hill” – Mera Peak deserves my respect and by god she demanded it, and yet I still made the summit – yay me! That was honestly the longest, hardest 3 weeks of my life – I met some of the most amazing people in my 15 trek mates, and together we struggled, and I do mean struggled (2 people even had to be put on oxygen due to altitude sickness), against all the elements that the Himalayas chose to throw at us.
It started with the weather being so bad that we arrived to discover that other groups had been stuck in Kathmandu without even being able to fly into the mountains for 4 days – we ourselves remained stranded there for one, until our guide managed to secure us a helicopter ride into the hills! Even this did not go smoothly though, 2 emergency landings due to adverse weather conditions – did you know helicopters had windscreen wipers, I began to wish that I didn’t!!!!!! It ended with 5 of us actually having to walk the last 1 ½ hours in the dark up hill, completely unprepared, to even reach our starting destination. Nothing like starting a trek before it even should have properly begun!!!!!!!!!
The weather did not improve and we spent the large portion of the trip without any view at all as we walked, at some points hardly unable to see the person in front of us! There is nothing like walking through monsoon rains, nothing will soak you through so very thoroughly; gortex (or even tents) it appears apparently mean nothing to the end of the monsoon season!
The experience of walking on glaciers is something that will stay with you - crampons, plastic boots and ice axes weigh you down like you wouldn’t believe. Losing feeling and sensation in your toes and fingers on the final ascent to the summit, and then falling into a crevasse on the way down really make a 15hr hour day seem long – these moments will never leave me now (thank the lord that I was roped to everyone else and with a guide who I’d trust my life – there is a sinking feeling when even they look scared when telling you are in a crevasse, and when they follow that by talking about what a close call it had been over breakfast the next morning!)
The mountain never lets you forget that it is in control – whilst we were there 2 climbers were killed in an Avalanche on Mera, a helicopter went down with 24 people on board and 3 people died on the mountain next door.
This was more than any of us thought it would be. It is only when I look back now that I can see what an amazing challenge we undertook and how outstanding it is to know what we have all achieved, only 8 out of the 15 summited, I feel very lucky to have been one of them, but everyone who took part pushed themselves to their very limits.
This is the first time that any charity has taken on Mera Peak and I can see why – at some points I felt like a crash test dummy being put through my paces. It really isn’t like any of the other charity challenges out there, there were points where I just walked along crying and wishing my mum was there to give me a hug, but the elation of reaching the top made everything worthwhile.
I would like to thank you all once again from myself and on behalf on the Anthony Nolan Trust for your support throughout this trip, so far this Mera Peak group has raised over £75,000 which will save so many lives. It is such a worthy cause – if we didn’t believe in it there is no way we would have gone through what we did.
I hope you feel your sponsorship money was earnt, believe me it was!!!!!!
Thanks again,
bx
Wednesday 5th September - Bison
Six years ago today our friend Ian “Bison” Lane died just weeks before his 27th birthday from Acute Myloid Leukaemia after fighting the disease for an excruciating 9 months.
This very brave young man was the reason I got involved with fundraising for The Anthony Nolan Trust in the first place, to help prevent this awful disease from taking any more lives and destroying anymore families. It is hard to believe that this terrible day was so many years ago now but he is still missed today by everyone who had the pleasure to know him.
This is the reason that this Saturday I will be flying off to Nepal to tackle my hardest challenge yet, the 6,654m (21,825ft) summit of Mera Peak in Nepal.
Now as most of you know, I am no stranger to charity challenges for The Anthony Nolan Trust, having completed the London Marathon earlier this year in the super speedy time of 5hrs 53mins – as I said all along, I was never meant to be a runner, but by god what an amazing day – and having gone to Base Camp Everest last year and to the summit of Kilimanjaro the year before.
This isn’t just a walk up some hill (not that I thought I would ever describe the other two as that either!), I can honestly tell you that I am sh*tting myself over this one. By the time we reach high camp we will be camping in temperatures of approx minus 22 celsius and trekking during the day in what can get to about minus 34 celsius – TOASTY!!!!!!! We will be spending the final days whilst attempting to summit wearing crampons and using ice axes whilst being roped together as we cross over the glaciers, desperately trying not to fall down the crevasses……..not something that I have ever undertaken before!
The training for this one though has been more intense than any of the mountains so far, even harder than for the London Marathon – I now own my own step machine which takes pride of place in our lounge, and there is nothing like 2 x 8 hour training walks in one weekend, take it from me! And I thought I that I hated running…..
Losing someone to Leukaemia though is such a tragic waste of a life.
When you consider that every 21 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a potentially life threatening disorder like Leukaemia, where often the only chance of a full cure is to have a bone marrow transplant, then it all seems worthwhile. The thing that I admire so much about The Anthony Nolan Trust is that they do everything they can to prevent this happening to others in the same situation as Bison. The bone marrow register that they run encourages us all to sign up and have our bone marrow tested and recorded on a gigantic potentially life saving list. There is then the amazing possibility that you might be a perfect match for someone and that you can donate your bone marrow and hopefully save their life – what an incredible thing to be able to do!!!!!
At any one time there are thousands of people, many of them children or young adults like Bison, waiting for a life-saving stem cell transplant. These patients have reached the stage where ONLY a bone marrow transplant can save them. It costs £70 to add each new volunteer to the register of potentially life saving donors. The valuable work that the Anthony Nolan Trust needs to keep going and the funding enabling them to do this life saving work needs to keep coming in.
You have no idea how much I fully appreciate all your help and support that everyone has given me over the last few years, we have together raised an amazing amount for such a worthy cause and I am so proud of what we have all accomplished.
If there is anyone who keeps meaning to sponsor but hasn’t managed to get around to it yet then today is the perfect day – do it for Bison and all those like him.
By sponsoring me you are helping to beat Leukaemia and giving hope to survivors and their families.
I can’t thank you all enough.
Take care,
Bex x
Thursday 26th July - London Marathon
Hello there, so an update on where things stand now - as you can see from the photo I completed the London Marathon, a miracle in itself! As much as I hated every single moment of training, and believe me I really do mean every SINGLE moment, the day itself was one of the most incredible of my life. The support I got on raceday was so amazing and I still cannot thank enough everyone who came down there on the day, I can't talk about it too much or it starts to make me cry (I am such a girl!!!!)
So now then, I am left with the final challenge and to be honest I am more scared of this one than anything else I have ever undertaken. I am at the point of my training where I get up and do god knows how many flights on the step machine followed by a delightful 2hr walk to work (for those of you who don't know from Caledonian Road, north London, to Battersea, south London) Weekends are my favourite though when I have to try and find enough places I can walk to for 6hrs at a time - really not an easy task, that is a long time, especially when you are rained on constantly!!! I am now also the proud owner of a delightful pair of plastic boots which are the heaviest things in the world and are just going to to take the fashion world by storm when I add crampons to them...sigh....
Only just over a month to go now, ahhhhhhhhhhhh, still need to keep the fundraising going. There are going to be a few events coming up over the next few months which I will keep you all posted about but in the meantime if you can spare anything and donate that will be much appreciated and help me reach my target.
cheers bx
THE CHALLENGE
I think this year I might actually have lost my mind - it all seemed a good idea at the time, push myself even further than ever before in the hope that by doing so you will be willing to sponsor me for the third year running.
I know that it seems an awful lot to ask but the thing is what has to be remembered is how many lives are actually being saved by supporting the Anthony Nolan trust and the amazing life-saving work that they do. They do literally give lives back from Leukaemia which is why I am so behind this charity. It isn't just about research into a cure, though that does take place, but it is also about actually being able to save people's lives on a day to day basis, people who without this charity would often be without hope of recovery.
The bone marrow register that they run means that there is the possibility of finding a match for a sufferer and giving them a bone marrow transplant that can literally save their lives. There are over 360,000 potential donors on this list right now, and we need to keep that number increasing. At any one time there are thousands of people, many of them children and young adults who are waiting for a life-saving stem cell transplant. These patients have reached the stage where ONLY a bone marrow transplant can save them. By sponsoring me you are helping to beat Leukaemia and giving hope to survivors. It costs £70 to add each new volunteer to the register of potentially life saving donors, so you really can make a difference to someone's life - you can actually help give it back to them, and to be honest how often can you really say that!!
So this year I have 26.2miles of the London marathon ahead of me, followed 4 months later with the dizzying and altitude sickness inducing heights of Mera Peak in Nepal, all 6,654m (21,825ft) of it!!!!!! This means a whole year of training this time around, and for me that is a year of seriously cutting down on my favourite pastime of drinking! Take it from me I am NOT a natural runner either, the mere thought of this race scares the life out of me and then to top the year off by attempting to summit the highest trekking peak in Nepal, 759m higher than I have ever been before (and when you consider that was Kilimanjaro and Everest Basecamp) you get an idea of how daunting a task it is I have set myself........all for ONE reason - to raise money and hopefully lots of it.
Please, please, please sponsor me.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Anthony Nolan Trust will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK tax payer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no extra cost to you.