What began as the usual idle banter between a few of us whilst on holiday last year has somehow gone all the way to being a reality! In the middle of July the five of us will be attempting to complete the National Three Peaks Challenge. For those who don't know what this is, the National Three Peaks Challenge involves consecutively climbing (and hopefully descending!) the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon respectively) . In all this involves approximately 24 miles of walking, ascending over 3000m and driving over 430 miles. To make this a bit more fun we're aiming to complete this is under 24 hours! Why? Well, to see if we can!

However, to make our inevitable suffering a bit more bearable we are trying to raise some money for Cancer Research UK along the way. With it being estimated that 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime, the likelihood of you being affected by it, whether directly or indirectly, is very high. Please dig deep and sponsor us online.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor us now!

Many thanks for your support.

Sam, Jo, Michael, Adrian and Tim

 

Sam's post-challenge analysis:

First off, can I say a massive thankyou to all who have supported us and given donations - the amount that has been raised so far is just staggering, well and truly blowing away our original target, which at the start I thought was a moderately ambitious total, so again, thankyou for your generosity. This site will keep collecting until september, so if you haven't donated and still wish to you can.

As for the challenge, well, we did it of sorts. Ok, so we didn't finish in the 24hrs we were aiming for, and of the 5 that started only 4 finished. It had started promisingly, with us making a fairly rapid ascent of Ben Nevis. However towards the top things started to go wrong, with Jo complaining of a few twinges in his calf muscles, shortly being followed by the soles of my boots - one of the few things I least expected to let me down - starting to come off. A few minutes were lost at the summit as Tim created a superb bodge job on them using string and bandages, which fortunately held for almost all of the descent. Before the ascent of Scafell Pike  a more firmer fix was done using superglue and Duck Tape! All in all Ben Nevis took a little over 5 hours, a sterling effort.

The second peak, Scafell Pike, although the smallest was possibly the worst, and sadly ended Michaels attempt. Until that point he had been one of the stronger members of the team. However, towards the summit, which was more broken and ardous than I remember, his right knee which had been hurting up, possibly due to a previous injury, until that point finally gave in. Although he made it slowly but sucessfully down, by the bottom you could see the pain and disappointment in his face, even more so when he fully realised his challenge was over. I personally was gutted for him, and Iknow I'm not the only one who felt that way. Under other circumstances I'm positive he would have completed with ease.

By the time we reached Snowdon it was all about pride. Despite appalling conditions at the top, Tim & Adrian completed in 25hrs 10 mins whilst myself & Jo completed in a slow but steady 26 hrs 35mins. We may not have done it in 24 hrs, but despite some awful weather and ridiculously bad luck we completed it none the less, so I'd count that as a victory. It could have been worse. 

Veni, Vidi, Vici.

(I came, I saw, I conquered.)

 

PS. Unfortunately I only seem to be able to add one photo to this page. The one I've chosen is one of Jo at the summit of Snowdon. If ever a picture is worth a thousand words, then this is one of them. It says it all.