DudsFundraising's profile

Stage 4.  Kernowthon complete...

Bit of a solo leg this one... not just because I was running on my own, but also that perhaps by now I should have lost at least one or both of my legs - some could speculate that the mind was also lost a long time ago to have thankfully enabled this challenge.

Could have been a very relaxed day on the face of it as there were beaches, a boat ride and pasties.... however, this was rudely interspersed with 30 or so treacherous inclines over 48km of, at times, precipitous paths.  And more cows and bullocks to contend with.  A note to the generosity of folk: from the lovely lady met on the Polruan ferry and a truly fine group at the pub/watering hole after finishing the run at the at Mevagissey - thank you for your kind donations, warm welcoming conversation and for putting up with what must have been both my distinct aroma and my utter drivel, or was it dribble?  To be fair, that's been alleged to have occurred in my not too distant past, run or no!

Thank you all again - so, until the next stage attempt... I'm debating sandwiching in an extra cheeky Dorset section next

Rude not to really - heard it's pretty much flat there....!

Well that was interesting.  This was a race section.  Coast to coast.  North to South.  Supported by lovely event organisers and their crew.  Great to run with company.  Missle and mist on the moor led to an erie disorientation at times.  Incidentally my first time up the highest point in Cornwall, known affectionately as Brown Willy...  Certainly tough going underfoot with bouldering, tuft and bullock divot to contend with.  My navigation needs a little work: barbed wire limbo and shin deep in a river only a half hour in.  A later impromptu toboggan run to rejoin the intended riverbank trail.   Thank you and well done Danni, who finished 2nd lady, and Tim for the event entry heads up!  My gratitude to you all for the ongoing interest for the poignant and amazing causes, for the incredible people I'm attempting this for.  You're amazing!

A special day with not only amazing weather yesterday, but great company. I was graced with Josh for the first quarter and Hayley for the last, and Tim throughout.  Massive logistical thanks to you and the welcoming hospitality amidst clearly busy lives. We looked to have established nearly a mile and a half over a marathon of distance and just shy of 2000m vertical elevation. There certainly were a few steep sections, notably between Port Isaac and Trebarwith, to contend with.  An initially reluctant dip in the harbour did help afterwards, considerably.  Thanks to you all who are supporting this venture - there's the next one planned in less than a week, across Cornwall from North to South, going over the highest point across Bodmin Moor... branded by some as the 3rd stage of idiocy.  Your support and donations are truly overwhelming. Really, thank you!

Sun's up. Kindly joined by Josh at the start and Tim until the bitter end today, so I can't slack. There's at least a vertical mile predominantly in the latter part of this coastal section. Sounds dreamy! Who needs toenails anyway? Dry paths, clear skies and company. Big thank you to the wonderful North Cornwall lot - always a pleasure.

St Agnes to Padstow.

Thank you for your support and donations in aid of the two charities so far.  Each chosen and meaningful, for hopefully clear reasons.  I've only just completed the 1st intended stage of this challenge.  The route was fairly true to form, however the tides weren't quite in my favour up 'the Gannel' adding a bit of extra mileage on.  A drop in the ocean I suppose. I left before another planned St Agnes based running event had started and ran 66 km, just over 40 miles or 1.5 Marathons to Padstow.  There were not unsurprisingly some ups and downs, with 1680m vertical elevation logged.  Somewhat unexpectedly, the questioning of some of my planning occurred toward the latter stages of the run, but involved an earlier flippant fashion choice.  I had no idea the choice of the colour red for the waterproof jacket would play on my mind as much as it did  traversing two fields of bulls...  Fact or fiction - I wasn't keen on putting it to the test.  Unfortunately, yet relievingly, my skills as a pseudo-Matador remain, as yet, nearly fully untested.

I finished relatively unscathed with a lovely warm welcome on Padstow Quay.

2nd stage next...

There's a WhatsApp group live location link that is a tracking attempt on the day... which I'll try and improve on.  Please feel free to enter and exit the group as you see fit.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/I4mQfLbgtXI8RHKdYbhHgk

More importantly come join for any small section or just laugh at me at the finishes.

Best to you all.

It's a loop.  Saturday 13th April and finishing 8 or so weeks later at Trevaunance Cove, St Agnes, Cornwall with an open homecoming proposed at some point in early June. 

I'm planning to run 250 miles of Cornish coastline via the South West Coast Path.

With an additional 36 miles crossing at the Moor via a route known as Smugglers' Way.

The Moor section is intended to be piggybacked on to a planned race event - that also has its own incredibly worthy appointed charity to support. 

I'm not a runner, yet.  I usually trend towards more waterborne ventures.

This, whilst a subjective challenge, might be considered by some objective lunacy. 

It is intended to be inclusive, however I'm sure I'm not the only idiot out there, so...

PLEASE COME AND JOIN ME FOR NONE, SOME, PART, ALL OR ANY OF THE SECTIONS or perhaps just laugh as I limp by - it would be most welcome. 

Why? 

My sister is young.  She was diagnosed with an acute stroke.

Another close friend, Andy, also young, was recently diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.  His and his team's  'Sandbaggers' recent Guiness record breaking challenge for the longest game of touch beach rugby last year has spurred me on.

There are other friends or their close family members who have also tragically succumbed well before their time, in particular the heartfelt recent loss last year of Tris on his 40th birthday. 

Unlike this planned series of runs, there is little to no choice in who or why this happens to these lovely people. 

So I aim to be as unprepared as is reasonable.  In a vague attempt to expect the unexpected, I prepare by being somewhat unaware of what lies ahead.

Please appreciate that I know there's choice here to attempt this, something these dear friends and family have not had.   

Neurological illness and its sequelae, along with the wider effect on those caring for and supporting the symptom progression or rehabilitation, remains as having a degree of stigma still associated.  

The person and families going through it are the ‘Same Them'.  

I do not believe that any illness or deficit defines the person, so any voice reiterating that you are the Same You resonates.  

Thank you Emilia and Jenny Clarke, who set up SameYou, as there is such a deficiency in UK's neurorehabilitation for both the seen and unseen effects.  

To those friends and acquaintances who perhaps don't know what to say to people and their families going through it, or perhaps feel awkward not knowing what to say, or whether to make contact or not... please just reach out, telephone, screen-time or perhaps even arrange to meet again in person. 

There will be a 'WhatsApp group' with a few 'admin' folk set up for tracking with a link to be posted nearer the time.  I can't claim it'll be the most interesting of dot watching but it might help those of you who, say, may want to throw things at me on the route round, like mouldy cabbage, cuttlefish and asparagus or maybe the kinder of you might provide a refill of water, or even some food?  Or perhaps some spirit lifting running company?.... Come join - it's a spectacular coastline to take in.  I hope to remember some of it. 

Arguably I should or could just stay in the village, as there are very good pubs there... 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT & ANY DONATIONS FOR THE CHARITIES ARE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED 

SameYou T Photo

MND T Photo