James Hayward
The South Downs National Park 35 Miler (38 miles in the end...)
Fundraising for The Royal British Legion
Story
Jim 'Batman' Hayward, Sean 'Robin' Hayward & Kate 'Wonder Woman' Hayward
'Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman' will be completing a 35 mile (38 mile) run across The South Downs National Park for charity on Thursday 24th December 2020.
Hopefully raising a little bit of money in support of The Royal British Legion.
The route will incorporate a 30 mile stretch along the South Downs Way and a 5 mile stretch using the Downs Link Path.
Due to the extensive undulating terrain and varied ground surface the run will be completed in military style boots, with a target time of sub 7 hours holding a below average 12 min mile pace for the duration.
I'm not saying we're Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman...I'm just saying have you ever seen all of us together...in the same room...Holy Oleo...
Event Summary
We realised that the Poppy Appeal took a big dip this year due to the Covid-19 measures that are in place across the country. We wanted to do something to help The Royal British Legion. My daughter Kate 'Wonder Woman' Hayward, MA student and Bournemouth University Woman's Rowing Captain, and my son, Sean 'Robin' Hayward, serving British Army thought that a charity run as a family bubble would be the best option. That was back in early October.
We started fundraising via a Just Giving page (James 'Batman' Hayward) and kept our fingers crossed that everything would work out. It was touch and go with the appalling weather and increasing Tier states but Level 2 remained in place for us and the rain stayed away.
The day went well, we've raised around £950 pounds so far for the RBL if you include both the donations and gift aid totals.
We started at sunrise and were relieved to see clear skies, light winds and a bright sun.
Large swathes of the route were still suffering the effects of the recent heavy rainfall. Our movement over the terrain was a lot harder going and, unfortunately, slower than we had hoped. Our spare clothing, emergency kit, rations and water weighed in at just under 10 kilos per rucksack.
Pockets of the route were busy particularly around the isolated car parks and areas of habitation. We received a couple of donations enroute. From Mark, on our run down into Amberley and from Andy as we climbed the long hill out of Amberley the other side. Generally though, it was a quiet day and we enjoyed the natural beauty that the South Downs still offers in abundance.
Wonder Woman and Robin were completely awesome throughout the entire day, they finished fresh. 38 miles felt like a long way and Batman was relying on natural superhero ability and longing thoughts of the Batmobile to see him through from about the 11 mile point... Everyone's support was amazing. It was unexpected and it honestly made the day for us, both very kind and very generous. Thankyou...there's loads of photos in the gallery now covering our day; just tap the cover photo at the top of the page and swipe across...
Local press link:
https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/aldershot-superheroes-run-38-miles-for-the-royal-british-legion/