Charity

Quo Vadis trailtrekker fundraising page

 

 

On the morning of 4th June 2011, Matt, Catherine, Colin and David will leave Skipton in Yorkshire by foot, aiming to walk 100km through the Yorkshire Dales in less than 30 hours. So no sleep allowed. We are doing this to raise awareness and at least £2000 for Oxfam, a wonderful charity addressing poverty across the world. Take a look at their website -- anywhere that people are living on very low wages, in an underdeveloped society or facing serious disaster Oxfam are there, making a difference. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/

This level of challenge is new to us -- I suspect I've never walked more than a third of this distance in one go. It is a long way, even for people who regularly hillwalk. It's 2 and a half marathons back-to-back, over mountainous terrain.

 So, if you like us, go on, give some money to Oxfam. And if you don't like us, be a lazy torturer -- pay us to hurt ourselves and then laugh as we give it all away.

Who are the team?

Matt Szyndel (walker)

Catherine Roper (walker)

Colin Bolton (walker)

David Brayshaw (walker)

Eleanor Bolton (support team)

Sarah Brayshaw (support team)

Brenda Roper (support team)

Click on the photos section to see some team members -- we'll add pictures from our training and the walk itself so do come back!

 

Team News

Following a recent illness Lloyde has steped back from the "walker" role and Colin has taken his place. Colin's first suggestion on taking a walking role was that we should all do the walk in cheerleader outfits.

Training News

The first training walk took place on the 13th March; David, Matt and Colin walked 26km in Oxfordshire (Abingdon-Cumnor-Farmoor Reservoir-Oxford via the Thames). This was largely along the Thames, and therefore flat -- about 200m of height gain in total. Matt still managed to get 3 blisters. However, 5 hours isn't a bad time for that distance, especially given that some of the 5 hours was spent in the Bear and Ragged Staff in Cumnor!

The second training walk took place on the 27th March, this time in Wales. Dave, Matt and Colin stayed at Brecon YHA and struck out from Talybont reservoir in the morning. They reached a number of summits including the tallest in the park (Waun Rydd, Fan y Big, Cribyn, Pen y Fan, Corn Du) before crossing the dam of the lower Neuadd reservoir and picking up the Taff trail. We then got bored of low level walking and climbed up on the ridge to the south or Talybont reservoir before crossing the dam and finishing. This added up to about 32km, with 1480m of height gain in 7 hours 30 minutes.

The third training walk was on 16th April. Dave and Matt walked 34.8km near Pewsey in Wiltshire, along sections of the White Horse trail. We climbed about 600m in total and took just over 7 hours to do it. Sarah practised her support team role by meeting us half way with cold drinks and chocolate!

The fourth training walk was on 7th May. The whole team walked 40km over the south downs near Petersfield, climbing a total of 1000m. We took about 9 hours 20 minutes with stops, so a bit slower than previous walks, but then we did stop at a pub for a bit...

The final training walk was a two day affair over the weekend of the 14th and 15th May. We walked 83 km in a 33 hour period, with a bit of a break to sleep in a bed and eat a full meal in the middle. The first day was around Barbury Castle, north of Marlborough. The second was a stretch of the Ridgeway between Bishopstone and Goring.

Weather

Let's see how good the Met Office are...

 

Yorkshire and Humber forecast

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UK Outlook for Monday 30 May 2011 to Monday 13 Jun 2011:

There is a possibility that the settled, warm weather may continue into the first days of June, but with some signs thereafter of rainfall amounts recovering closer to average for the time of year. Both daytime and night-time temperatures are likely to remain above average, although there is a fair amount of doubt about where the warmest conditions will be. Sunshine amounts are also likely to be near average throughout, although they may be above average at the start of the period.

Updated: 1258 on Sun 15 May 2011

 

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UK Outlook for Saturday 28 May 2011 to Monday 6 Jun 2011:

A mixture of some bright or sunny spells, but also periods of rain or showers this weekend, with the wettest conditions likely in the west and northwest, but little rain in the south and east. Unsettled conditions are then likely to continue early next week with the risk of some heavy rain in the northwest, although with southern and eastern parts remaining generally drier, brighter and warmer. For the rest of next week and into early June the north and west looks like staying mainly unsettled and rather cool at times, with further showers or longer spells of rain, while the southeast sees the more settled, mostly dry conditions and also with a trend to rather warmer conditions here.

Updated: 1205 on Mon 23 May 2011

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WE FINISHED IN 29 HOURS 54 MINUTES!

The event itself proved more arduous than we expected. Dave suffered particularly, sugar crashing at 35km and again at 80km. The night legs also slowed us down more than we expected. At 80km I don't think any of us expected to finish inside 30 hours, but we hoped to finish the course if not in time. Sarah came to waterstop 5 (90km) and walked backwards until she met us just over a kilometre from the waterstop; she then accompanied us to the finish line. We accelerated a little in the last leg, and when we found a surprise waterstop 3km from the finish line, with 45 minutes left on the clock, we realised we might just make it. We ran the last 500m which was a good effort from Catherine as she carries an injured right knee that doesn't survive running well normally. The clock showed 29 hours, 59 minutes and some seconds as we crossed! The other 5 minutes of margin were due to use starting right at the back of the field.

Recent donors

Anonymous £5.00 12.07.11 From Eleanor, Mark & Family

Catherine £15.00 (+ £3.75 giftaid) 27.06.11

Michelle and Burnsey £20.00 (+ £5.00 giftaid) 22.06.11

Stu and CHloe Wilson £20.00 (+ £5.00 giftaid) 22.06.11 Hey MAtt Sorry its so late getting you the money!

Morten £15.00 (+ £3.75 giftaid) 20.06.11 Well done!

Emma and Tim Jackman £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 19.06.11 Well done all of you!

Richard and Margaret £100.00 (+ £25.00 giftaid) 16.06.11 Well done Dave (and Sarah)!

John Lally £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 13.06.11 Well done! I liked your your fundraising email so I've partially plagiarised it for my own fundraising efforts!

Tom £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 13.06.11 Well done - you must be knackered!

Mathew Owens £20.00 (+ £5.00 giftaid) 13.06.11 Oops, missed this originally! Well done!

Cristina £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 13.06.11 What an amazing challenge! I'm very impressed.

Anonymous £5.00 12.06.11 Jess from over the road

Jo £100.00 12.06.11 A fantastic result and all for a very good cause. Well done and congratulations to all the team!

Monkey See No Risk £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 09.06.11 Colin, I trust you suffered at least 5 blisters as I think I said I'd give £2/injury. ;)

Anonymous £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 09.06.11

chipper £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 07.06.11

Kate & Barney £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 07.06.11 Very well done!

Mary Wells £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 07.06.11 Better late than never for the sponsorship!

James W £36.20 (+ £9.05 giftaid) 06.06.11 362 out of 648? Fantastic result!

Tim, Helen and Ella £50.00 (+ £12.50 giftaid) 05.06.11 Hope you had a nice walk!

Jill & Peter Duncan £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 05.06.11 well done for even thinking about doing this!

Richard £10.00 (+ £2.50 giftaid) 05.06.11 Great one.

Mike Ristic £20.00 (+ £5.00 giftaid) 03.06.11 Best of luck!

Alan Thompson £30.00 (+ £7.50 giftaid) 03.06.11 Good luck

Kay Slack £20.00 (+ £5.00 giftaid) 02.06.11 Hope it all goes well. A huge challenge! Keep travelling on.