Skip to main content

Man vs... another bloody great hill

Why is Snowdonia so funny?
Because it's hill areas.

Not kidding. None of it is flat.

Not even the car parks.

Driving in to North Wales I was struck by how steep and rocky it all is! Having never been up here it was nice to see, and I could really imagine how incredibly fun tomorrow is going to be.

It's the third part of the most action packed and gratifying trilogy since Toy Story.

The "Man vs..." series is coming to an end, and it's concluding with a hell of an event.

"Man vs Mountain" takes on the rugged landscape of North Wales, from sea level to the summit of Snowdon. There's over 5000 feet of ascent across the 22 miles, the famous vertical kilometre, and a healthy dose of TAKE THAT from Mother Nature.

Earlier on this week Rat Race had to issue a kit update because the weather forecast had deteriorated. Low mountain temperatures, wind and rain. "Bring your waterproofs" they said.

Thankfully it now just seems to be thick cloud and wind, so we can look forward to a great view and some stunning scenery I'm sure.

It's nice to kick off September, which is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, with a big event.

This makes it a good time to introduce one of the Anthony Nolan campaigns called Communities vs Blood Cancer.

There is an online tool set up where you can enter your postcode and find out how many potential donors are signed up to the register in your area, your constituency’s ranking and the average age of donors.

It's then something you can email to your local MP to ask them to support the campaign. You can find the tool to check your local stats online here.

I now know that my constituency is ranked 361 out of 650 in the UK, and there are 912 people on the register. Plenty of opportunity for any local readers to boost those numbers!

Thank you to all the latest sponsors, the new ones and the returners as well (they just can't give enough!).

You're all superb, and we're now over halfway to the final ambitious target. It's a massive effort from everyone and as I keep reminding you, it really helps the legs keep moving when I'm 6 hours in, halfway up a hill, stuck in the middle of a moor, or on my backside under my bike.

There's nothing left to say. Let's go - I have a mountain to climb!


Instagram: philvsnature
Twitter: @PhilJ0606

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1st Re-Birthday

For those new to reading this and anyone else who isn't aware, Kate is the superstar and the inspiration behind this series of testing events I've completed in aid of Anthony Nolan. Back in December, Kate wrote a really poignant blog post introducing us into her world since diagnosis, how she coped with her diagnosis, and the treatment she'd had - if you'd like to catch up then you can find it here . Since then she's been busy; you may have seen her on TV, the radio, in national newspapers, on magazine front covers, and guest speaking at conferences. There was also a top 10 most viewed spot on the BBC news homepage, and through all the attention she's been going about telling a really difficult story all with dignity and good humour that everyone who knows her would expect, and that everyone who doesn't would be amazed at. The Spot Leukaemia campaign from Leukaemia Care has pushed her experience into the public eye, and t here's been quite a lot f...

Just what is going on?

I've been asked a few times now: "Phil, just what is going on?" Well here it is in a nutshell. An absolute non-runner (me) is taking on some running events for charity (long ones). To be a bit clearer, I despise  running long distances - and in this context long means any further than the length of a rugby pitch. The furthest I have ever run in one go without stopping is 5 km while finishing a 10 km. Kate is in the middle of a huge challenge, a really momentous time in her life. Whilst I don't run, I do regular exercise, and so I decided that whatever I did to try and raise money had to be something that could be my own massive challenge. Running a 10k wasn't going to cut it as I've managed to finish one before (the furthest run is shown in the picture, and I'm having such a great time!), and after a bit of tinkering "Phil vs Nature" was dreamed up. I wanted hard, and here is what I've signed up to do. For the next 12 mont...

"Netflix and pills"

Have you heard about the popular past time "Netflix and pills"? Whilst some 16 year olds would give up their stem cells for a week doing this, it's apparently not as fun as it sounds. My friend  Kate is one of life's good eggs. She's kind and selfless, and she's tough. She's an inspiration to many people really. Life can be cruel sometimes and Kate's had a bit of a rough time recently. While there lots of are cliched sayings about coping in the face of adversity, sometimes it's just "Netflix and pills" that gets you through to see in the next day, a lovely black humoured phrase from Kate and her friend. Sometimes, that's not enough and it's the love and support of people around you - including charities - that spur you on again. Hearing about the things that help Kate in her daily battle made me think carefully about where I can do my bit. While the scale of the fight is rather different in size, I'll be using ...