Rebecca's OMGWHATAMIDOING-PAPAA
Rebecca Lutton is raising money for PAPAA
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
The task:
Saturday 23 August – 5K Colour run (http://www.thecolorrun.co.uk/belfast).
Sunday 24 August – Lap of the Lough (http://www.lapthelough.org/index.php/site/event) . A 85 mile cycle around Lough Neagh - although I did it two years ago and it was 87.9 miles. LIARS!!
Monday 25 August – Cycle to Dublin.
Tuesday 26 August – Drive to Kerry and climb Masatiompan and Brandon mountains with a friend. The description of the hike is below.
Wednesday 27 August – TRAIN to Belfast, cycle home, collapse.
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“This one is for the survivors and the ones who don't know when to quit. This is for the ones who face into powerful gales with a wicked grin and ask the planet is that is that the best she can do. This is for the hardy bucks.
On the edge of the known world where the turbulent and restless Atlantic whips the atmosphere into a frenzied attack on the western seaboard, the summit of Masatiompan is only clear for one in every nine days. In April this year one group of hikers waited 13 days before the gales died down enough to allow an ascent. Perched almost 800 meters over Atlantic cliffs Masatiompan is just the appetiser on this feast of a hike.
At 951 meters Brandon is a mere baby by international standards, but Mont Blanc doesn’t have two thousand miles of Atlantic powering a driving rain that races up the side of the mountain and pelts you from above, from below, and from every side you turn.
Brandon is the only one of Kerry's 3000 foot peaks located outside the Reeks. It is strongly associated in tradition with St. Brendan the Navigator, from whom it gets its name. The story of St. Brendan, who set sail from Ireland in a boat of wood and leather and found new lands to the west, was popular in many countries of medieval Europe. The mountain was the focus of a pilgrimage, which probably goes back to a time before both St. Brendan and the arrival of Christianity altogether. Its importance may be due to the fact that, being so far west and so high, it is the place where the sun can be seen the latest as it sinks below the horizon. It is described as being surrounded by the ocean, which fits well with the topography of Mount Brandon. Brandon is the highest mountain in the Brandon Group area and the 9th highest in Ireland. Brandon is the most westerly summit in the Brandon Group area.
Departing Greystones at 7am and arriving by 11am this epic feat of mountain walking is accompanies by a 10 hour return drive so it’s not for the faint hearted. Expect to be home in Dublin no earlier than 1am.
This is a 16 km hike ascending about 1500 meters in total and taking at least 7 hours if the weather is good. There are 500 meter drops into the Atlantic and visibility can be less than 2 meters at times. Bring your balls.”
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The charities:
- Parkinson’s UK (http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/)
- PAPAA (http://www.papaa.org/)
- FASA (http://www.fasaonline.co.uk/) and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25773001.
For some of you this may seem fine; for some it’s crazy; for me it’s a challenge. I have done ZERO training for this so I am completely unprepared; however, those who succumb to diseases and illness, whatever they may be, are equally ill-prepared but manage mammoth feats of perseverance and determination. I am not doing this for me because I can, I am doing it for those who can’t.
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