Our little speedster took on somewhat of a different challenge this weekend as he tackled the Islands coastal path to raise funds to help the YMCA St Mary’s Pre School build an outdoor shelter for their woodland garden. Ross is the head of outdoor learning there, so it’s a cause close to his heart.
63 miles of rugged multi terrain paths faced our brave soul as the wind, hail and Baltic temperatures battered our little diamond idyll over the course of the day, but that didn’t deter our little dynamo as he set out at the unearthly hour of 5am from Ryde on this solo mission.
The first leg proved tricky as the stretch between St. Helens and Seaview was boggy along the footpaths, made all the more treacherous by the fact that the sun had yet to arise.
However by sunrise he had made it around to Culver to capture this beautiful view.
Along the cliff paths and through the land slip at Bonchurch, Ross made it through to Ventnor in good time before negotiating the tricky paths to Blackgang and eventually Chale.
“Now for the difficult bit” he updated on his Justgiving page when he arrived at Chale.
Laying before him were 13 miles of exposed cliff paths and 528m of elevation and with a bitter head wind making the going even more daunting.
“It was windy as hell” he tells me “It was a battle to run against the whole way ….. and then it chucked it down with hailstones! I was glad when I got to Freshwater Bay”
Ross made it to the Needles Battery without getting blown away, where he made the welcome turn, knowing that he was over halfway there. Some welcome respite along this stretch, by far the flattest of the 4 legs. However this section was not without its challenges. The forest at Bouldner was sodden from the previous day’s persistent rain, which then led into some of the hillier sections of the IOW Marathon route through Shalfleet and Porchfield. Couple that with the pressure of needing to get to Gurnard before sunset and poor Ross was exhausted.
“By the time I got to Cowes I had no energy left and my ankles were killing me. Luckily my family were there with supplies which really kept me going”
But the gutsy hero set off for the last leg of the journey, a nice flat tarmac trip down the cycle track to Newport and Ross had turned for Ryde and the final furlong of this epic adventure.
“The Hills on the way back to Ryde were awful. But I just put the last bit of energy I had into it. All the Pre School staff were waiting for me at the finish line to congratulate me which was amazing”
What an amazing feat! 16 hours and 15 minutes of running and the circuit was complete. Brilliant, Brave and somewhat Bonkers let’s face it! But our boy battled the elements, battled the hills and battled himself…. and won!
Great effort Ross, hope the children can enjoy their garden all year round.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/run-for-cover-challenge
