All our training and planning paid off as we successfully completed the MegaHike Challenge on Saturday.

We set off on the 50 mile trek at 4:40am, with 53 other teams, and our plan was to make it back by midnight.  To begin with it was bit of a procession along a path parallel to the M62 motorway, and must been a surprising sight to any early morning motorists.  The groups soon spread out though, especially after some teams stopped for breakfast at the 6 mile Check Point.  We carried on to Check Point 2 (14 miles) where we met Mark Scott in the support vehicle.  Whilst others were applying plasters and bandages we had a quick restock of water & snacks and a change of socks and we were soon off again (about 40 mins ahead of schedule).  Andy had grabbed a couple of apples and we were chased out of the first field by a hungry horse, with much laughter coming from the watching competitors.

The weather was warm but also a bit cloudy so not too bad for walking and we made it to the lunch stop (26 miles) before 1pm, a full hour ahead of schedule.  A pasta lunch was provided in a pub beer garden and there were even massages available.  We only stopped for about 20mins though which was enough time to eat and change socks again.  Chris & Andy managed a full clothing change by the roadside but no traffic accidents occurred.

The groups were really spread out by now and although we weren't deliberately trying to race to the front we were able to use catching the team ahead as a bit of motivation.  This definitely kicked in when we saw a group that had been a long way behind cut a corner (saving about 1/2 a mile) and get ahead of us.  Jess then lead the mission to hunt them down and pass them which we soon did.

The longest and highest climb of the day began at the 34 mile Check Point - 3 miles of walking up hill - and the weather was now hot and windless.  We all still full from lunch and the continuous snacking so had plenty of energy.  We reached the 40 mile check point in good spirits and were told that we were "the only happy team" they'd seen so far, which made us feel even happier!  A couple of other teams were collapsed on the verge and may not have been so pleased to see our smiling faces.  One of these teams had lost two of its members (ex-paratroopers) to heat exhaustion and blisters so the surviving two asked if they could join us for the last 10 miles.  We agreed on the understanding that they would have to keep up with our pace and laugh at Chris' jokes, this worked well as it gave us another incentive to keep going.

We met up with Mark at the final Check Point, Kenny & Andy even showed off a bit by running the last 100 yards (down hill).  We were now just 5 miles from the end, still about 35 mins ahead of schedule and knew we were in front of most of the other teams, 12th or 13th place we thought.  We dumped as much gear as we could and picked up our head torches for the final push.  It was dark when we got to one last surprise hill but we were soon over that and in sight of the finish.  We caught up with another team with about 1/4 of a mile to go but decided it would be a bit cruel to jog passed them.  This did mean that they were cheered to the finish line and we were almost unnoticed but Mark was there with a bottle of sparkling plonk.  We were presented with our shiny medals and the news that we'd actually finished in 9th place!  We finished at about 23:10 so it had only taken 18.5 hours!!  The first team was back at 21:30, so only 1 hour 40mins before us.

We were then able to relax in the nearby rugby club and just managed to get to the bar before it closed.  A few cans of beer, a hot meal and a f-f-freezing c-c-cold sh-sh-shower later and we went back to our tents feeling very pleased with ourselves.  We got up early, keen to get home and recover.  Other teams were still coming in, the last one made it at about 6am, almost 7 hours after we'd finished.

The newly formed CSC Hiking Team will be taking part in two charity events this summer and we'd like your help to raise as much money as we possibly can.

On Saturday 22nd May we will be tackling the Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks, a tough 23 mile route that will take us to the top of the three highest hills in the Dales - Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

Then on the 26th of June a team of 4 will be selected to attempt the even tougher "MegaHike" - 50 miles in 24 hours around the South Pennines.  This is a big official event with over 60 teams taking part and there's an additional challenge of completing it in the 18 hours of available daylight.

From these two events we are hoping to raise over £2,000 for the MedEquip4Kids charity www.medequip4kids.org.uk which provides equipment and improves the environment in children's hospitals across the North West,  and we will be very grateful for any contribution you can make.

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 - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thanks
CSC Hiking Team

Jess Leason
Andy Norman
Chris Wilson
Kenny Arnott
Mark Scott