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I am undertaking the challenge of completing 2 marathons, a half marathon and a triathlon over a 5 week period. My aim is to raise at least £1234.50 for what I consider to be 3 very worthy charities. The three charities I am raising money for are Claire House, Touraid and SCARD (Support and Care After Road Death and Injury) /CADD (Campaign Against Drink Driving). Local people will be well aware of Claire House and the fantastic job they do in caring for children with terminal illnesses and supporting their families. I was moved by the work done there when I took a group of pupils to deliver some money they had raised. Touraid is a young charity created to promote the mental, social, cultural, educational and physical development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and to provide them with support by the healthy participation in physical recreation through playing rugby. Touraid tours will help forge links between schools and rugby clubs in the United Kingdom and those overseas thereby providing children in the United Kingdom and those from underprivileged areas overseas opportunities for development through playing rugby. Kingsmead, the school at which I work is committed to raising £7000 to bring 10 boys from Botswana over to stay with some of our pupils in September. The third charity and the one I have the most personal connection with is SCARD/CADD. Ever since my sister-in law and baby nephew were killed by a drunk driver in 1998 I have wanted to raise money for a charity that supports families who have to go through the trauma of losing a loved one. I also wanted it to be a charity that tries to educate people against the potential consequences of drink driving. SCARD and CADD are one and the same charity and this is the reason I have chosen to raise funds to support them. I hope to raise as much as I can to support their efforts by completing the London Marathon on 25th April, Harlech Triathlon on 9th May, Chester half marathon on 16th May and Chester Marathon on 31st May. Please give generously! You can donate online to Claire House and SCARD/CADD by following the links I have provided on this page. To contribute to Touraid I can pass cash or cheques (Payable to Kingsmead School and with "Touraid" written on the back) on and these will go into a specific account set up for this project.



Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Men of Harlech!




It was with excitement that we packed up the car and hitched up the caravan on Friday to travel down to our campsite in Porthmadog. However, I was slightly worried by the strong wind that was blowing through Friday night and for most of Saturday! Also down in Porthmadog were our friends Nick and Cookie and their families. We spent Saturday walking and playing on the beach and psychollogically preparing for the challenge ahead! This involved ribbing each other about bikes, prospective pitfalls and the all in one lycra number that I had bought. (I should point out that I had a spare one but after a rather amusing catwalk display from Nick and Cookie donning the said lycra outfit, they both bottled wearing it!!!) After an evening meal of pasta we said our goodbyes after arranging a 6.30am meet the following morning. The early night never materialised, as it very rarely does and i finally got to bed about 12am! I awoke at 6.10 to a glorious morning and after double checking my kit made the short walk to Nick and Cookie's caravan. I arrived to a pan of porridge that was burning nicely and a good pot of coffee! After a swift breakfast we left at 7am to make our way to Harlech. Cookie had the first start time and so we got him there safely and registered. All was going smoothly and two more friends Phil and Dave arrived for their respective start times. We waited to see Cookie exit the pool and start his bike ride- and then wished we hadn't!! As there may be young children reading this lets just say that at one point during the transition from swim to bike he decided to don his birthday suit!! It was now time to get changed and prepare for the swim. After 4 lengths of crawl I went for my more efficient breaststroke and completed the swim in a pleasing 9 mins. The sun was out as I exited the pool and so I decided to just go straight on the bike without changing!(See picture left!) The cycle was along the coastal road towards Barmouth and had some great views, and some cracking hills! From the bike it was straight out on the path to the beach for the final leg, the 6.5k run. A very picturesque run culminated in a very steep ascent to the castle for the finish. I completed the event in 1hr 36mins 50seconds which I was very pleased with for my first and definitely not last triathlon! After we had all comlpeted the triathlon we were able to swap stories and have a group photo (Sorry Phil, you had already gone!). And so all stand up Men of Harlech to recieve the slate medal that cofirms the completion of a very enjoyable triathlon!
There will be tales to be told in the Mill on Thursday, not least the number of ways Cookie could have saved the 4 seconds that Nick beat him by. My tip, if you drop apricots- leave them!! And so a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far, to my father-in -law for getting my bike up to speed, to Julie for her continued help, love and support and to the The Big Man for giving me the ability and good health to complete the two events so far.
I am now looking forward to the Chester Half Marathon on Sunday where I will be joined by Nick, Paul and yet again Phil, who will have been present at the first 3 of my challenges. I would love to go under an hour and a half, to find out if I do come back next week!!!
Matt
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