In October 2008 my brother, Colin Coates, took his own life, and turned his family's world upside down.

He is loved and remembered by his mum and dad, brother and sister (in/outlaws too) five children, two ex partners, nephews nieces and many friends and extended family. That's a lot of people affected by his choice.

I try to find positives in life, and one of the few positives I can say that came from Colin's decision was that, in my grief, I discovered walking. I find such calm and personal reward in a long day's walk. Pushing myself to a place where I become a walking robot.

I am lucky enough to have a brother in law, Paul Johnson, who is the perfect walking partner. He too found the pleasure in walking from grief following the death of his father, Pete, of a heart attack, in 2008. Together, we walk, talk, view the amazing country we live in, and ignore blisters as we become walking robots.

On June 10th we are going to push ourselves to the extreme as we try to walk the wonderful Coast To Coast path - 210 miles from St Bees, through the Lakes, the Yorkshire Moors, Swaledale, North Yorkshire, Cleveland Moors to finally end 7 DAYS later in Robin Hoods Bay. West coast to East, an average of 30 m a day, with a whopping 38 mile day in the middle of the walk. It's a challenge, and were excited by the thought that we might not actually be able to do it.

To give ourselves a much needed push, and to do something in memory of Colin, we have chosen to walk for Sane - a wonderful charity that supports people with mental health issues. They support, among other things, a wonderful website www.blackdogtribe.com - a resource that I wish my brother had known about.

We've set ourselves the target of £1000 - perhaps as ambitious as the walk itself - so I urge you to donate, whatever amount you can afford in these hard times. Every little will help push us on.

You can also follow me on twitter @paulcoates_ where I'll be giving updates through the walk, and where we will both welcome your tweets of encouragement on those long, hard days.

Thanks, in advance, for being there, and a massive shout out to both our families for their love and support and enabling this walk.

The Two Pauls x

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