Run To The Coast (In Memory Of Tom Dallow) 2013

RUN TO THE COAST 2013

 (For St Michael's Hospice and in memory of Tom Dallow)

Hi Guys, I thought it was about time I updated my Blog so I will start with a Charity run I did in July and in my next post (coming shortly) I will do a write up on the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc. I will start with Run to the Coast which myself and my brother James organised after the sad death of our friend and work colleague Tom Dallow. Tom was suffering from cancer and spent his last remaining days at St Michael's Hospice in Hereford.
 We decided in his honour we would run from our place of work in Weobley to the welsh coast ending at Aberystwyth Pier. This would be 65 miles in total and would be in all essence a Cross Wales Run.

 

 The Run started on the morning of Saturday 13th of July and as it would turn out ended up being the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius. The route would take us along the A road to Rhayader then from here we would take the old mountain road past the dams to Devils Bridge then straight into Aberystwyth to the pier.
 We were to be joined by two other work colleagues Craig and Andy who would accompany us along the route on bicycles and protect us from traffic, as well as my wife Rachel in the 4x4 with drink and food.
 It was 6am when we left Weobley and were lucky enough to have most our work colleagues come to see us off, including Toms wife and daughter. The first couple of hours were easy enough and we laughed and joked along route, especially at the fact that one of our cyclists Andy had forgotten almost every bit of essential kit that he needed for the day, I'm surprised he didn't forget his bike,
 After an hour or two we were joined by my Dad and his wife Pat who ended up following us in their little Nissan Micra for the whole journey and who were great support through out.
 On reaching Rhayader (35 miles) about 11.30am this is where the terrain started to get a little harder and the next 3 mile was to be a long uphill climb to the top of the Cambrian hills where the views and scenery were stunning. The weather although beautiful was warm indeed by now and we were stopping about every 3 to 5 miles to fill our bottles with electrolyte and water.

 

 The next few hours were run along quiet small roads with hardly any traffic and it gave the cyclists a chance to stretch their legs a bit as the runners were reasonably safe from traffic. We were also joined by more work colleagues on their motorbikes and cars and every one of them were amazing and would end up following us all the way to Aberystwyth. The support from the public was also great and people even stopped to donate money for our cause.
 We arrived at Devils Bridge (50 miles) about 8 hours into the run and although we were suffering a little in the heat we were both in high spirits and enjoying the whole experience. The next section of the run would take us back on a busy A road all the way into Aberystwyth and this where the cyclists once again became our protection and what a fantastic job they did.
 We plodded on for the next couple of hours and on turning one particular corner we were treated to views of the sea with Aberystwyth and the welsh coast. Its fair to say that I was feeling quite emotional at this point and thoughts of our friend entered my mind and how happy and proud he would of been to see that we were almost there.

 

 And so it was that after almost 11 and a half hours of running we were escorted into Aberytwyth by friends on there motorbike all the way to the pier where we were greeted by an assortment of friends and family. We hugged and embraced one another and after a quick photo and chat we walked down to the sea where we immersed ourselves in the cool water to relieve our aching legs. We had done it.
 I am proud to say we raised over £1000 pounds for the hospice and feel very lucky to have friends and family like ours who supported us through out the day, all I can say is thank you all.