One of my aims this year was to complete a Quin; that’s an Iron Man 5 times – 1 per day. A 12 mile swim, 560 mile bike and a 130 mile run in total.

But I wanted this personal challenge to mean even more at the finish line.

So, instead of a commercial event, I decided to do the distance on home turf in Dartmoor to raise money for three amazing charities.

And as soon as I made my decision at the beginning of 2020, Covid-19 crept up on us!

This made me even more determined to see this plan through! After all, triathlon is all about persevering through challenges and pushing ourselves beyond what we think we are capable of.

Although training has been a challenge given the restriction on movement and lack of pool time, I have been committed to training and working hard to complete the distance. I am sure all you legends out there will help me reach our fundraising target and then smash through it for these amazing charities:

1. Dartmoor Search and Rescue Tavistock: They are purely volunteer run and are invaluable to the community, being oncall 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in order to respond whenever they are needed. This year they are actively fundraising to replace their Rescue Control Vehicle, that will cost £50,000 and I would like to contribute by fundraising through my endeavour. ( https://www.dsrt-tavistock.org.uk/ )

2. Surfers Against Sewage: This is a charity that is being supported by the school I work for (Mount Kelly) for this academic year. They are a local charity based in Cornwall which began campaigning in 1990 about sewage in our local seas. From this grassroots movement they have grown into one of the UK’s most active and successful environmental charities, carrying out beach cleans and targeting plastic pollution at source and on the beaches. (https://www.sas.org.uk/)

3. Plymouth Hospitals Charity: Donations to the charity are used to buy or contribute to providing new specialist equipment or to brighten up the hospital environment. Wards and departments in the hospital can let the charity know what they would like to raise money for, and then the charity can help facilitate them. Donations and fundraising income are used to help the hospital go over and above what would otherwise be possible. (https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/)

Let’s come together as one big community and help these three fantastic organisations! We can do this!

Please try and donate an equal amount to all three causes.