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Running
17 May 2010
Relay for Life 100k challenge
The Cancer Research UK’s Relay for Life is in its 4th year at Aston and has raised £36,000 in total to date. I jumped at the chance to take part in this year’s event, as it combined someof my favourite things: raising money for charity, exercising, setting myself a ridiculous challenge, and wearing underpants on the outside. I entered as team captain for the Happy Humanists Team, a merry band of four, representing the Aston Humanist Society that I chair. Well short of the recommended eight members for the relay, we knew we were in for a tough time, and just to make it even more interesting I decided that I would try to walk at least 100km over the course of the 24 hours the relay lasted.
The atmosphere at the start of the relay was a heady mix of happy excitement and sombre reflection. A rousing talk from a CRUK sponsored researcher at Birmingham University and cancer survivors completing the first lap really hit home the importance of these kinds of fundraising events.
The first 8 hours passed in a flash. Talking to team mates, the bands, dancers and supporters meant that I hardly noticed the time or distance. Keeping the steady pace set by my GPS watch, I was chuffed to find that we’d covered 43km by the time the Candle of Hope ceremony started at around 8pm.
The ceremony was definitely a time of mixed emotions. I was relieved at the opportunity to take a break, but it was also a time to reflect on what we were all raising money for. Hearing the story of Aston student Melissa Leach, and her family’s struggle to find support from the government whilst she suffered from cancer, was heartbreaking. Listening to another student who was told he had cancer on his 22nd birthday almost knocked me off my already unsteady feet. He had an inspiring message that bears repeating: be glad to be alive – your bank balance, clothes and when and where the next party is aren’t as important as they seem. Walking around a lake for a few hours pales into nothingness once you really stop to consider the struggle that cancer sufferers and their families go through every day.
Support from students (who really should have been at home in bed ready for another day’s revision) made the midnight shift go quickly, but the time from 4am to 8am was the most challenging for me. Tired, cold, sore and semi-delirious, I think in those four hours I put to good use the stubbornness in me that my wife finds so annoying. I owe an apology and a thank you to all the poor souls who kept me company during those hours and who were kind enough to put up with my inane ramblings as we plodded around the lake together.
With the sunrise came a second wind and the last 20km became just a matter of getting it done. It’s a cliché, but it really was a mental more than physical thing by the end. I didn’t have anyone to let down but myself, and no one really benefited from me walking 100km (in hindsight I should have got people to sponsor my by the kilometre!), but I got a kick out of doing it and it’s spurred me on to do more endurance-based fundraising events. Just one tip for anyone thinking of taking up the challenge next year: take lip balm. The greatest source of pain two days after the event wasn’t blisters or stiff muscles; it was really badly chapped lips from exposure.
It goes without saying that I couldn’t have done it without the support of my team members. Jack Hooker, who did the first five hours with me – in bare feet no less. Jack Williams, whom I hadn’t even met before that morning, but who walked three hours on Saturday with me and came back on Sunday to walk the last four hours, when I needed company and encouragement the mos. And last, but not least, Toby Chander, who helped me through the midnight shift. I owe each one of them more than just a pint! Ben Smith and the rest of the committee, and the CRUK Marshalls and St John’s Ambulance for their reassuring presence, all deserve a great deal of praise for organising such a big event that went off without a hitch.
Personal challenge aside, I’m chuffed to bits that the Happy Humanists raised more than £500 towards the record-breaking £17,000 total for this year’s event. That’s a lot of money going to a very worthy cause, and at the end of the day, that is what it’s all about!
A copy of this article will appear in the next edition of the Aston Times
Jack Williams and me
GPS route of the first 42km
07 May 2010
10 June 2009
Tulpesh will be doing a 10k run for Cancer Research UK on the 27th of September. His run will be around the beautiful surroundings of Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock.
If you would like to sponsor Tulpesh, you can do so at this sponsorship page. All the money you donate goes directly to Cancer Research UK and if you’re a UK taxpayer you can Gift Aid your donation too.
Run, Tulpesh, run!
8 September 2010
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