Gazeley Blisters raises £2,400+ for Headlines
A team from Gazeley, headed by Bruce Topley recently completed Trailwalker, the most life-changing, foot-slogging, friendship-forming, group-hugging, greatest team experience. Ever.
Trailwalker is a 100-kilometre trek for teams of four – over 30 hours in tough conditions and mainly follows the South Downs Way, finishing in Brighton.
'Blisters', Topley's 4-man team completed the event in 25 hours 26 mins and 59 seconds and was 166th out of the 287 Teams that completed the Challenge from the 502 Teams that started out. To achieve the trip within the allotted 30 hours "...was harder work than I had envisaged, and yes we did get blisters…the feet took a pounding" says Bruce, who adds: "The Gurhka’s ran the 100kms in 10 hours 15 mins and 34 seconds and we all had huge respect for them".
'Blisters managed to raise the magnificent sum of £2,435 for the 2008 IAS Charity Headlines and a further £5k +for Oxfam.
Kier Challenge for the IAS Charity Headlines.
14 peaks, 24 hours, 5 Developers......what could go wrong? Nothing, they beat the time challenge, climbed an extra peak and so far have raised £15,000 for the Headlines charity.
Phil Sutton reports on a highly successful climb.
All six of us at Kier (Peter Hughes, Alex Aitchison, Andrew Duckett, George Dickens, George Shepherd and me) completed the walk in an official time of 18 hours from the top of the first peak, Snowdon, to the top of the final peak, Foel-fras. In total we walked for 22 hours and covered 52 KM, which included 15 individual summits, (we found an extra peak for good measure) and in all climbed over 14,000 ft, which apparently is the same height as Everest base camp.
We started at 3am and walked up Snowdon in the dark where we were treated to a fantastic sunrise on the Snowdon horse shoe including the challenging peak Grib Goch, which is like walking along (or in my case crawling due to a fear of heights) a dry stone wall with an 800 foot drop on either side. The walk was divided into three main sections and between each we met the support team led by Ed Rosa who dropped us off and picked us up and kept us supplied during the day. He even managed to cook porridge for breakfast and pasta for lunch.
We had all misjudged the enormity of the challenge and found it to be one of the hardest things each of us had attempted. Despite having to walk for a further two hours after reaching the last peak it was great once it was all over and we planned to celebrate on our return to the B&B. However, we had no energy left to enjoy even a beer or any food, which must be a first for the property industry.
Would we do it again.......no chance, was it worth it.......absolutely. Despite the pain, exhaustion and chaffing we had a great 22 hours and have many great memories. The achievement is underlined by the support we have received from the industry, despite the state of the market. In all we have managed to raise nearly £15k which is incredible. Laura and I are overwhelmed by the response the event has generated and we would like to thank everyone for their generosity and support.
The event was in aid of Headlines, who are delighted by what we have achieved and the amount that we have managed to raise. The money will make a huge impact on the future of the charity and will enable them to continue the excellent work and support they provide to families who initially have their lives turned upside down when their child is diagnosed with conditions such as Aperts but over time realise how rewarding and happy the kids can be.