In August 2018, Brian and Elaine will each run the 170km Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) race to raise funds for the inspirational charity "Les Amis de Children's Home" (translated simply as "Friends of the Nepalese Children’s Home").

Les Amis de Children's Home is a small and dedicated charity founded by Frenchman Patrice Floquet in 1998 which runs orphanages, schools and health centres in Nepal, improving the lives of thousands of Nepalese children, many of whom were recently orphaned by the 2015 earthquakes.

Brian and Elaine aim to raise together £3,500 to help Les Amis de Children's Home to rebuild a secondary school for 700 children in the village of Bhotenamlang, north of Kathmandu in Nepal.

The school in Bhotenamlang was devastated in the 2015 earthquake - only one building comprising 3 classrooms (the three built by the charity for the school in 2009) survived. The 700 children are currently accommodated in temporary bamboo and tin huts. Les Amis de Children's Home wish to rebuild the entire school with a strong two storey building. The project has been validated by the architect of the Nepalese Ministry of Education and will cost EUR 40,000 to build - of which Brian and Elaine hope to raise 10% . If Les Amis de Children's home raise further funds, they can also equip the school with tables, chairs and computers.

FYI, here is a link to their webpage: http://lesamisdechildrenshome.org/PROJET-2017-a77.html

With your help, Brian and Elaine hope to raise money for this worthy cause by completing the 2018 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

Thus, at 6pm on 31 August 2018 they will join over 2300 other runners from around the world at the Place Triangle D'Amite in Chamonix, France, for the start of the epic 170km race which will take them through three countries (France, Italy and Switzerland) and up and down over 10,000 vertical meters for the next two days - without sleep! Over 40% of starters will not make it to the finish within the maximum time limit of 46.5 hours. Brian is a previous finisher (2017) and this is Elaine’s third and final attempt (ever!).