100km Cotswold Way Challenge
The suggestion box was passed around last year to establish which charity challenge the team were going to take on for 2019 and somebody carelessly let Kate get her hands on it… Here we are now signed up to the toughest team challenge so far. Dan, Jas and Kate are taking on the 2019 Cotswold Way Challenge which sees them walking 100km non-stop from Bath to Cheltenham along the hilly Cotswold Way. The walk begins at 8am on Saturday 29th June and will finish sometime on Sunday 30th probably lunchtime/early afternoon. The daredevils will be walking right through the night pausing only for comfort breaks and the odd bit of sustenance and are likely to be fairly broken and delirious when met by the rest of the team at the finish line.
When we talk about the challenge to people, it takes a little while for the scale of it to sink in, although I think we’ve pretty much come to terms with it now. 100km is 62.2 miles; that folks is roughly TWO and a HALF MARATHONS; aka a long way. Training will be essential and time consuming when you consider a 20-mile walk takes roughly 7 hours and that’s without any stopping. There were alternative options; a shorter distance or a stop overnight, but the team felt that to really maximise the money for their charities, the full 100km would be a challenge worth sponsoring! Aside from moving for around 34 hours non-stop, Jas, Kate and Dan will need to get their feet ready for the event to prevent blisters and loss of toenails (yes this can happen!). The challenge is very much a mind over matter one as well and so motivation and positive attitudes will be essential; the rest of the team will help with this by providing support along the way (and of course plenty of sweets).
Kate is raising money for a local Sue Ryder Hospice; Leckhampton Court in Cheltenham, Jas for the AADC Research Trust who do research to improves the lives of sick children and Dan has decided to raise money for AT Society who exist to enable people with A-T to make the most of the lives they have. The team have a JustGiving page where you can donate so please dig deep if you are able, it really will keep us motivated during this tough challenge https://www.justgiving.com/teams/first-choice-ce as wish us luck!
Kate has also been writing a blog to document the training and challenge ahead so if you’d like to learn a bit more about what is involved and get more of a scale of what’s ahead for the team head on over to https://katetakeslittlesteps.home.blog/
