On Saturday 15th June, I attempted to walk 26 miles with the same incline as base camp to the Everest summit.
This was undoubtedly the hardest physical thing I have ever attempted and I am incredibly proud of what we all achieved. We began the walk at 4am, it was dark enough to require a torch to navigate the Cumbrian countryside. The aim was to walk 26 miles, 3522 metres of elevation, (this being the height of base camp of Everest) in 24 hours, to raise £100,000 for the incredible Chapter2 Charity in Reading.
After 16 hours of non-stop walking and climbing, we decided to abandon the final mountain and leave it to the younger more experienced walkers. This was backed up by our mountain guide’s advice (I cannot lie, this was music to my ears), it was by then 8pm and it had barely stopped raining for the majority of the walk. It was going to take another 5 hours for us to complete (of which 4 hours would have been in the dark) and the last leg was considered tricky.
32 of us started the walk, 5 were injured, 14 finished the penultimate goal and 5 brave walkers carried on and smashed the final mountain (I take off my hat to you). Although I felt deflated that I couldn’t complete the last part of the walk, my legs also couldn’t have done another 5 hours, but I was satisfied I had given my 100% and that I could hold my head high on my return.
I had set myself the target of raising £1,000.00 and through the generosity of my friends, family, work colleagues, clients and people from my local area, at the last check, I had raised £1,767.00, so an enormous thank you to you all. As a group, the charity has raised £85,000, so if you have a spare £15,000 knocking around, I know they would be eternally grateful. 😉
If you think you could be cut out for it, the charity are always looking for male mentors. Please follow the link to find out more. I am about to embark on the training program that will enable me to start to support a young lad in the Reading area.
If you want to work with a builder who cares about the community he works in, get in touch for an initial meeting.