Story
Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.
Again this year's Charity Run is to support CARE International.
My Challenge is designed to really test my weary soon-to-be-retired-from-BP legs and encourage supportive donations from yourselves to help put life back in to them!
The Warm Up: London & Houston
In January I will do the Houston Marathon and then I will be running in London, England. The London Marathon is always a wild experience and I can’t wait for another run with the CARE Team in the UK.
The Colorado Mountain Challenge: The Leadvilles
In the summer I will do the Leadville Marathon. This 26 mile race takes a fairly circuitous route that goes up and down a fair bit to eventually reach the top of Colorado's infamous Mosquito Pass at 13,000ft. It was really tough last year, but I am determined to beat my time this year.
After this initial challenge, I will be running the Leadville Silver Rush 50 mile run. I’m sure those weary legs will get a great workout going over several mountain passes with the entire race run above 10,000ft. Gulp!!
....and then....perhaps....maybe....just possibly....there might be a shot at the Leadville Trail 100 mile race. This is referred to in the book "Born to Run" as one of the most notorious Ultra Marathons in existence. It is the distance of the London, Houston, Washington and Philadelphia Marathons all put together, but with a whopping 16000ft elevation gain with no breaks and within the 30 hour time limit. More than half of the crazies that enter (and, believe me, these folks are not a bunch of retirees) drop out by halfway. My wife, Gayle, thinks I am crazy for even thinking about it.
I will definitely attend the LT100 Training Weekend, which is basically a 50 mile assessment in the mountains to really to see if you are even up to be on the starting line of the real thing.
So I think you will agree I have laid out a challenging combination of experiences that will take me the distance from Boston to New York and beyond with a total elevation gain of Mt Everest all in support of CARE International.
Care International
I first came across CARE in Africa ( http://www.careinternational.org.uk ) when I was working BP's interests in Angola/Southern Africa a decade ago and was really impressed with what they do. CARE is a great charity doing terrific work and this is the 6th year I have run for them. With more of your generous sponsorship this year the cumulative amount you have donated will be very much in excess of $100,000. I would really like to thank you for your continued support.
Please sponsor me now!
I really appreciate you visiting my fundraising page and hope you will be willing to make a donation to help spur me along and up - I will need all the encouragement I can get!
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. All currencies are gratefully received and it is merely a quirk of the website that it is set up in £ Sterling (n.b. £1 is circa US$1.60).
This website is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: CARE International gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation. (what is Justgiving?)
Many thanks for your support!
Howard