Fortus Vs The 3pc!

On August bank holiday weekend, 14 of us will be climbing Ben Nevis (1,345m), Scafell Pike (978m) and Snowdon (1,085m), with 24 hours to drive 1,100 miles and walk 42 km. Some may think: “WHY would you do that, you crazy people?”

Once upon a time, in the pre-COVID world (is that even a thing?), Tough Mudder, Wolf Runs and other sport events weren’t unusual for some members of the Fortus team. When trying to find something sporty and exciting to do, the 24hr Three Peaks Challenge (3PC) sounded like a great idea at the time. What was a plan between 3 friends escalated to a 21 people proper challenge!

When you’ve declared to everyone and anyone that you’re going to do something, you can’t really escape it anymore, if you want to save face. So there we were, end of 2019, trying to budget the event, find a hotel, calculate the timings, rent some vans and start training (personally, I switched Yoga and Pilates for more running)! Well done to the wise soul who convinced me to book some guides, probably was being slightly optimist thinking we could manage on our own…

Very kindly, the business offered to financially support us and agreed to pay for the guides, which is the biggest cost for this activity. Some participants suggested that making it not only a sporting challenge, but also a meaningful event would be a massive plus. In order to represent as much as possible the geographic spread of people taking part, three charities were selected; Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Group, KidsAid and The Travers Foundation – they all have a commonality of supporting children via medical assistance, play therapy and help them to realise their dreams in sport, music and art – which are causes particularly close to my heart.

Please note that the amount raised will be split equally between those charities and they can all benefit from Gift Aid – they can therefore claim back the tax you pay as a donor. To simplify, £10 in your hands is therefore worth £12.50 in theirs! So, if you’d like to donate, please click here.

You won’t be surprised to hear that self-persuasion didn’t quite work out “COVID won’t last, I won’t cancel”. But this year, the one-year-old-brand-new material is definitely going to be used and fundraising has already started. We’re even getting some fancy T-shirts very nicely provided by one of the charities and GoPro practice is taking place!

The team’s buzzing, our WhatsApp group’s full of training pictures and having something outdoorsy to look forward to is a great feeling after a year hidden at home. I can’t wait for the next morning…aching bodies, painful walking comments!