Big challenges

[evenflow]

Has anyone ever undertaken a big challenge - 26 marathons in 26 days, LeJoG, climbing Everest...?
Interested in what you did and your experiences.
Closest I've come is climbing snowdon and doing a 50 mile hill walk over 2 days, camping overnight. Not exactly bear grylls

[Stuart70]

Cycled coast to coast in two days, did Yorkshire 3 peaks, GB 3 peaks, Caledonian challenge - 54 miles in 24 hours.

I have walked the West Highland Way a couple of times

All a good number of years ago.

I have always wanted to do the Camino de Santiago, but unless the vaccine rollout is significantly quicker than expected, 2021 will not be the year for it.

Clearly I am not really up there with the Marathon Des Sables nutters or Eddie Izzard in the challenge stakes, but it would be good to do something this year.

Edited by Stuart70 on Sunday 3rd January 15:42

[mcelliott]

Mine have been mostly cycling, one Everesting, then a week a later something called a High Roulers Society ride which entailed climbing 10,000m in 24hrs, I also have done the Raid Pyrenees, that's riding from the Atlantic to the Med in 5 days.

[anonymous-user]

I’ve done lejog on a bicycle and jogle on a tandem

13 days each so quite leisurely compared to some

[luckyal]

I decided in 2006 to take on a challenge to raise money for the BHF as my daughter had been born with a hole in the heart and after successful surgery i wanted to give back. Not being the fittest or an experienced walker, i correctly assumed if i announced i was trekking to Everest Base Camp the next year that people would be surprised & more generous at the scale of the effort. Ultimately i raised £14k so well worthwhile.

We went in late February, which the leader of the trek (subcontracted by BHF) later admitted was a few weeks earlier than ideal but he'd agreed because BHF insisted & he needed the contract. It turned out to be quite a lot harder than we'd all expected, with the promise of the early part of sunny trekking through valleys of exotic flowers being replaced with snow, ice & treacherous conditions from the outset. The team GP was the 2nd individual to run into serious altitude issues, but fortunately there were another 6 in the group so that wasn't critical. 7 people (out of 30) didn't make the distance, 1 had to be run down from a height by Sherpas & apparently was minutes from being gone (22 year old, fittest in the team) & on the return leg they ended up calling a chopper in for one lady who had given her all to get there, but saved nothing for the descent home and wasn't able to put one foot in front of the other. Altitude sickness affected the group very differently from just minor headaches (me, fortunately) to nearly killing a few people, with no age or fitness level being any kind of indicator.

For me, i realised i wasn't as prepared as ideal & lacking in a few items of kit, but for the vast majority of the trip i coped just fine. Only 1 day did i think i couldn't do it & all it took was a team member taking my rucksack off me, putting his arm round me & encouraging me for a few hours and i got over that notion.

It took a few years before i looked back fondly on the trip, as it was a bit of an ordeal at the time despite some fantastic experiences, but now i would gladly do it all over again and funnily enough the little girl who it was in aid of has turned 18 so we may yet revisit Nepal.

[mike80]

I'd like to do LEJOG on a bike, but I think I need to do a few smaller "challenges" first! My work and personal life make it difficult, but one day...

[fizzwheel]

I've completed a number of cycling multi day Sportive, biggest one was The Tour of Wessex in 2015, 335 miles over 3 days.

I've done a couple of 8 Day Charity rides around the South West of the UK, 550 miles in 8 days

But the biggest thing I've done was a JoGLE last year. Took me 10 1/2 days and was by far the hardest challenge I've ever set myself. I rode solo, but I had a support vehicle so I didnt have to carry camping kit etc.

I planned my own route and I used my Garmin 1030 to Navigate had a one wet nasty day, otherwise weather was good and I did it in September last year. I raised just short of 6K for Charity in memory of my friend who died from complications from his cancer treatment in 2019.

As said its the hardest thing I've ever done on a bike but also the most rewarding, just in terms of my own feeling of achievement and the amount of money I raised.

For me it wasnt the physical elements I found hardest it was finding the mental stamina to dig in and keep going especially on the day I finished at Carnforth as the weather was miserable i.e. it p*ssed with rain most of the day. But funnily enough thats the day I remember most and the day I am most proud of that I didnt quit ( I did miss a few miles that day as my route took me over Shap and I had to get into the support vehicle as I couldnt hold onto the bike in the cross winds and decided after the third time the wind blew me off the road that discretion was the better part of valour )

I blogged about my training and the ride itself. If you're interested here is the link

https://www.facebook.com/Daves-JOGLE-In-Memory-of-...

Edited by fizzwheel on Sunday 3rd January 22:03

[Terminator X]

Not me but the chap that runs my Bootcamp did MDS when he was 50 something.

TX.

[GloverMart]

Back in 1999, did the 92 Premier League and Football League clubs in 16 days for Macmillan Cancer Relief. (On my own).

Collected signed memorabilia all the way around & auctioned off when I got back, raised £4,750. Stayed every night bar one in hotels/ guest houses / bed and breakfasts free of charge after writing to them first. Sponsored car from local car hire company. Watched eight or nine games on the way around.

Loved every minute so in April 2017, did it again with my two youngest lads. This time, split the money (£2,500) between the Adam Stansfield Foundation and the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Again, sponsored car + fuel & a national housebuilder coughed up £300 towards our hotel costs. Watched ten games as we went around.

Will do it again one day, great fun.