Thank you for visiting my page. My name is Colin Edwards; I live near Trusham, a small village in the Teign Valley, where I work mainly on the land. I had a serious motorcycle accident when I was 19, although I didn’t actually have my leg amputated until my 40’s. After the accident a Canadian surgeon demonstrating new techniques in vascular transplants saved my leg. However, several operations followed and chronic problems finally left me no option but to have my leg amputated.
I will admit that my first few years as an amputee were a great disappointment, before the accident I had ran cross country for Devon, boxed for the South West region and played rugby for my local club. At the time I was farming, and the constant activity caused a lot of sores not to mention the times I left my leg behind in the mud!
At around 45 I decided to start running again, 100 metres after I was red in the face and completely out of breath but, I had run! Slowly my fitness improved until I was able to run marathons and severe off road races. This level of fitness allowed me to undertake fundraising expeditions such as Base Camp Everest and the summit of Cocopaxi (Ecuador) raising considerable sums for limbless charities.
My next challenge is to run the South West Coastal Path in Spring 2011. 630 miles with an ascent of 115,003 feet or four times the height of Everest!
Why the Coastal Path?
There are many reasons, I have always loved the union between sea and land, the South West Coastal Path is beautiful and steeped with history and myth, what better place to complete a demanding challenge on an environmentally green basis?
I am delighted to both work as a Trustee for PORT-ER and raise awareness of the really important work that we do by accepting this personal challenge. I’m really hoping that there will be a few people along the way to give their support, as I know the going will be tough at times! I would be hugely grateful of any donations however big or small they may be!
To help my fundraising efforts, I will be wearing shorts throughout the winter. For everyday that I wear shorts I will be looking for sponsorship. Not only will this raise money but also raise awareness of amputees, you may think I’m at an advantage only having one and half legs to get cold- but when the wind blows I can assure you this is not an easy challenge!
Please keep visiting this page for my training blogery!
*PLEASE NOTE- Due to the size of my blog I have had to move it to a seperate page. Please go to http://colinscoastalrun.wikispaces.com/ to access my blog
