I was a bit wary of this brown tube as I saw it lying in the boot of the marshal’s car at Honistor Slate Mine but I would go as far as to say it is partly responsible for me finishing the course!

I gave up black tea at the beginning of January but promised myself I could have a cup when I reached CP4 to give me the much needed boost I would need. I arrived at the mine after the café had shut so I thought I would give the Activator a try. The caffeine hit combined with jacket potato and chilli was perfect to prepare me for the final stages of the event. As I headed up towards Dale Head Tarn my previous weakness was behind me and running across Maiden Moor and Catbells as the sun was setting was one of my highlights of the event.

The Activators can be bought from Team Nutrition. I won’t be doing an endurance event again without one.

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3am in the morning and I’m sat up in bed, wearing just my navy blue Patagonia Y fronts and a head torch. I’m also smearing factor 30 sun block on my arms and legs. A guy looks in the window, he’s wearing a hoodie, we stare at each other, it doesn’t take long to workout which one of us is the “misfit”

You see I have entered the “10 Peaks Challenge”. A race around the 10 highest peaks in the Lake District. I have slept the night in my landrover, parked near the grounds of a posh Keswick hotel and the transfer coaches leave for the start in 15 minutes. This is the second year for the event. A charity event for Macmillan Cancer Research. Last year 52 people started and non finished!

The coaches leave on time and we arrive at Thirlmere. A pep talk from the organiser follows, I look around at my fellow competitors. There’s a good mix of long distance runners and walkers. Also a smattering of hard as nails fell runners, with their tatty and worn gear, obligatory holes in their Helly Hansen thermals and calf muscles shaped like spades. Contrasting with the road runners, well dressed in co-ordinated Ronhills, nattering about negative split times and mile markers.

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It’s not just the competitors that go the extra mile in aid of charity. The 10 Peaks Challenge attracts extreme marshals too! Aqua Consultants were not content with setting up a check point on top of the highest mountain in England, they set up an aid station providing bottled water and energy bars for all competitors! They were joined by a member of Raynet who provided the comms to other check points and back to base.

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Saturday July 2nd was a very long day for all 102 people who made it to the start line of the 2nd 10 Peaks Challenge. At 3.20am two coaches picked up competitors from Keswick for the 20 minute ride to the start at Swirls Car Park. It was fairly quiet on the coaches, not just because of the time of day but perhaps the dawning of the mammoth task that lay ahead.

The climb to Helvellyn from Thirlmere

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