CHALLENGE COMPLETED

That's them all done.  Run, Swim and a Bike Ride

On Saturday the 2nd of October two (yes only two!) novice cyclists set off to conquer the coast to coast cycle route. The day began with us boarding the 6.20am train from and arriving into Whitehaven at 9pm. The first day was a 53 mile journey from the marina in Whitehaven to Penrith at the other side of the . We had our picture taken at the start point and set off with high spirits. However, we quickly realised that it wasn't going to be as easy as we had hoped. By 3pm we had just arrived in Keswick and had covered only 31 miles. We decided to stop off to re-hydrate and grab some food and it is fair to say that we began doubting we would be able to finish the event or even reach Penrith before nightfall! After our rest we set off again and pushed on through the failing light to arrive into Penrith at 7pm. After finding a hotel room for the night (yes, we set off without booking rooms) we managed a quick bite to eat before turning in for an early night following an exhausting first day.

We woke on the second morning to find that it was raining and not only that but it was that fine rain that soaks you through! However, spurred on by our efforts of the previous day we set of on what is universally acknowledged to be the most difficult of the 3 days and involves 3 climbs of over 2000 feet. The first climb took us to Hawkside Café after approximately 20 gruelling miles, the second to Black Hill, the highest point of the coast to coast and the final climb took us out of Allenheads towards Rookhope. We finished this last climb at 5pm and were greeted by two friendly faces. Steven's dad and Judith had made the long trip to check on our progress and this spurred us on over the last few miles as we arrived into Rookhope, our 97 mile marker, at 5.45pm. To celebrate our arrival we checked in to our B & B and headed out for some food, beer and match of the day. Now, it is worth mentioning that the B & B was a little strange. There were no locks on the bedroom doors, we weren't given a key to the front door and we were told we had to be back no later than midnight. So, after several pints and plenty of food we set off back to the B & B in plenty of time for our curfew. BUT, as we tried to leave the pub we were accosted by other cyclists staying in the same B & B and one thing led to another and we missed our curfew. This resulted in a severe telling off upon arriving back to the B & B and us slopping off to bed like naughty school children!

The next morning, slightly worse for wear and with our ears still ringing from our telling off we set off to cover the last 40 miles to Roker. Overall the day went very well with beautiful sunshine and a lot of downhill sections. However, we did get lost once and manage to miss Stanley completely meaning we had to have food at the instead! I wouldn't recommend it. In spite of this we still arrived at Roker at 5pm after covering the 137 miles to be greeted by, well no one actually, but they did turn up 10 mins later!

Overall the experience has been amazing, a one we will never forget and one we will never repeat!

The main reason for doing this and the other events is to raise money for a good cause, in this case the British Heart Foundation. Thank you to all of those who have already sponsored us, it is greatly appreciated. To those who as yet have not found the time, please sponsor us whatever you can.

Thanks

Lee and Steven (and Graeme for two events)

 

Swim and Run Done

Well everyone, we finally manage to find a swim event that wasn't cancelled due to algae.  On Sunday 26th September we sucessfully completed the Great Salford Swim.  This has now been added to The Great North 10km Run we completed in July.

Our times for the various events so far are;

Steven:  Run = 50:25 (pos 709), Swim = 28:25 (pos 186)

Graeme:  Run = 51:18 (pos 806), Swim = 41:51 (pos 954)

Lee:  Run = 58:08 (pos 1631), Swim = 41:49 (pos 952)

Robert:  Run = 1:01:49 (pos 2051), Swim = n/a

A big thanks to all that have donated so far, and to those who will do.

It is still planned that the bike ride will take place shortly however, due to the frantic rescheduling of the swim, and other commitments, it is likey that only Steven and Lee will be able to take part in this - update to follow

 

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SWIM CHALLENGE UPDATE - ITS ON!

As some of you may know, the Great North Swim was cancelled on health and safety grounds due to high levels of blue-green algae.  Never ones to shirk a challenge, we've enlisted in the Great Salford Swim

http://www.greatswim.org/Events/British-gas-Great-salford-swim/default.aspx

Again this is a mile outdoor swim so all those hours in the pool will not have gone to waste.

A big thanks to all those who've supported us already.  It's one of the reasons we've found an alternate swim event.

If you wish to donate to the British Heart Foundation to show your support, you can do quickly and safely through this site.

We'll let you all know how we got on after the event.

 

Graeme, Steven & Lee (Sprout, Steppy & Botty)

 

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Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

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That'll teach us for making outrageous claims about our fitness levels over a few beers on a Friday night.  The fact that we have agreed to go through with the challenge is probably a mix of bravery, stupidity and stubbornness.

For those who don't already know, we have agreed to push our limits by attempting a sort of triathlon over the summer months.  First up will be the Great North 10km run in on 18th July.  We will then be doing the Great North Swim - a 1 mile open water swim across Windermere - on 4th September.  Also, if our schedules allow we will be doing the Coast to Coast bike ride.

Along the way, some of our friends will be taking part.. Robert Lawrence for the run and Nick and Adam Daines for the swim. 

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Update - 02/08 - Well we all managed to complete the first stage of our challenge - the Great North 10km run.  I think the majority of us were quite pleased with our times considering the varying about of training we'd put in.  The next challenge is the Great North Swim which will defo require some pool time.  We're also just finalising the dates for the bike ride - more news to follow

As we've set ourselves this challenge we thought it would be good to raise some money for charity in the process.  The charity we've chosen for this adventure is the British Heart Foundation.

You can donate to us either in person, or via this page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

 

So, thanks to all in advance.

 

Graeme, Steven & Lee (Sprout, Steppy & Botty)