The challenge
We're doing this challenge to raise money for Guide Dogs and because we want to do a physical challenge. The challenge involves a 10km walk up the Old Man of Coniston, 17km mountain biking off road and on tracks and a 3km canoe in two-man canoes across Coniston Lake. It all has to be completed in less than 10 hours in a team of 4.
Intro to the team
Jude Jennison is the team leader and had the initial idea for the challenge. 10 years ago, Jude had a riding accident and broke 9 ribs, her shoulder blade in 3 places and had a collapsed lung. Fitness continues to be a priority and a challenge for her and so Jude wanted to take the next step to go beyond her comfort zone by training for and completing this challenge. It requires a lot of focus and dedication to get fit enough to do it...
Follow Jude's blog about her training and progress, as well as the event day itself.
Paul Jennison is the long suffering husband of Jude and is doing this challenge to cheer her on and help her get fit. He enjoys cycling and walking already but Warwickshire is rather flat so training for the Lake District mountains will require him to take his own fitness up a level. Paul hopes that Jude will do a small amount of paddling the two-man canoe on the day and not leave it all to him.
Jude and Paul have 2 Guide Dog brood bitches who have pups in their home once a year. Gracie is 8 and has now retired. Pepsi is 2 and will start breeding later this year.
Sarah Baxter
Can you believe it (her nieces and nephews can't), Sarah is getting on her bike... all in a good cause. As lots of you know, we have been Volunteer Boarders for Guide Dogs for 5 years... and love every minute of it so have decided to turn our hand to fundraising to support the amazing work of Guide Dogs and not least ensure the dog are kept in the style they are accustomed to...
I obviously now have to have all the kit for each event and ensure I am colour co-ordinated … Personally the biggest challenge for me is the cycling however thanks to a kind friend Helen I have a super duper bike which hopefully will keep me upright…
Mark Baxter thinks he is already fit enough to take on the challenge (how hard can it be!) but the retired swimmer and water polo player is going to see if he still has any fitness left. He has climbed mountains; canoed and cycled before; a long long time ago. The biggest challenge may be staying out of the water.
We really love the time that we get to spend with our Guide Dogs and it has made us appreciate just how much it costs to train and keep them so the real challenge is to raise as much money as we can to enable Guide Dogs to provide even more dogs so that more people can benefit from the freedom that they bring.
About Guide Dogs
Guide Dogs literally change people's lives. They provide blind and partially sighted people with confidence and freedom.
It costs over £5000 to breed and puppy-walk each guide dog puppy and in total it costs over £40,000 to breed, train and support a single guide dog partnership.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.
Please support us and donate today.
