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Why not walk for CRY? Anyone who would like to support CRY by doing a sponsored event please e-mail us we would love to hear from you! THE THREE PEAKS 24Hr CRY CHARITY CHALLENGE - JUNE 24/25 2000 - Time taken: 20 hours 49 minutes * ( see below ) 
CRY put together its own team of six walkers in 2000 - completing the challenge in 20 hrs 49 minutes! It involves climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours, including the driving and is regarded as one of the toughest challenges in the UK. The total amount of money raised was just under £4,000 after Gift Aid tax benefits.Brief details of schedule:
The CRY 3 Peaks Team from Hedge End, Southampton consisted of: Andrew Hill, Chris Haig, Andy Collins, Tim Williams, Richard Hemming, Martyn Ashmead plus two drivers David Farndale (CRY Executive Officer) and Adrian Plaw (Director of IT, Corinthian TV).  From left to right - Andrew Hill, Richard Hemming, Tim Williams, Andy Collins, Martyn Ashmead and Chris Haig ready for the off at 05.50am. General Report by Chris Haig - CRY Team Co-ordinator (shown here in restful mode between mountains) 
The idea of doing the 3 peaks walk was hatched when reading about a team's successful completion of the challenge at the end of 1999. The first task was to assemble a team of walkers that would stand a good chance of being able to complete it.
Not by conscious design the 5 additional walkers that signed up had complementary talents, as well as all being capable walkers.
The walkers (personal reflections later) Martyn Ashmead, a geographer (geography teacher); Andy Hill, a doctor (and part time mountain goat); Tim Williams, a full time Church worker (in case we needed someone to perform a Christian burial on route); Andy Collins, naturalist (as opposed to a naturist which is something quite different) - also a research scientist and a University lecturer in Human Genetics (by profession); Richard Hemming, a civil engineer; Chris Haig (me! - a computer programmer). CRY charity event It was natural to want to use the event to raise money for Care and Relief for the Young (CRY) - as it is a small locally based Christian charity (Hedge End, Southampton), that does great children’s work - working with street kids, orphans, poor families, war widows, blind children, etc., primarily in Eastern Europe, and was looking to establish an outreach programme for street kids in Brasov, Romania - which is a real need. Fortunately CRY has it's own Ford Transit minibus in the UK, and the charity agreed for us to use it as the vehicle for the challenge. Dedicated drivers / support team As well as needing a team of walkers, it was essential to find people to do all the driving - and generally support our efforts. David Farndale the charity director readily volunteered, and was also able to recruit a friend of his Adrian Plaw, from Corinthian TV. Training programme Our ages ranged from 26 to 49 and we were also at different levels of fitness. Several months of training lay ahead to try to improve our fitness and stamina levels overall, as well as ensuring we were as near as possible equal in fitness levels. A sobering thought at the outset was that one of the party had tried the challenge twice before, and had failed to complete it in 24 hours. That wouldn't have been too bad, but as this man had the climbing abilities of a mountain goat, this put the challenge ahead into perspective. The months of training were not without incident. On one occasion I decided it was a good idea to run up and down flights of stairs at work during the lunch hour. This activity left me unable to do any physical training for about a week, and left me unable to walk up or down stairs without pain for quite a bit longer than that. Nearer the end of my training I decided to row 20k on a Concept 2000 rowing machine. Unfortunately I over-egged the pudding somewhat and succeeded in wearing away much of the skin on my bottom - painful! That put paid to training on the rowing machine, which had been my main stay up to that point. Our training was also hampered by our physical location. The nearest thing to a hill was Butser Hill near Peterfield, which  did not compare to anything we would meet on the challenge. However, as it was all we had we made good use of it, by walking up and down it several times a session. We had hoped to do some group training exercises, but finding a time when everyone was available proved too difficult, and we managed no training with all of us together, and one half day when 5 of us were available.
There were a few occasions when training was done by 2 of us together. As well as Butser Hill, Marytn and I made use of the Dorset Coastal path to walk from Weymouth to Lulworth and back, which was about 20 miles, and walking over the 7 Sisters to Beachy Head and back on another occasion.Divine blessing The training completed, and the time of the event was upon us. We had all taken Friday off work, to enable us to travel up to Scotland without pressure. We left at about 9.45 from Chandlers Ford, having picked up the last of the walkers. A quick prayer to commit the time to the Lord, and pray for success and safety as well as not getting lost. It must have taken a couple of minutes for the prayer to reach, as directly after leaving Chandlers Ford a wrong turning was taken on what were very familiar roads! However, that was quickly noticed and it turned out to be the only wrong turn all journey. GPS invaluable David had a Garmin GP12 GPS device for navigation, but it was not set up for grid references. Andy Hill and Richard spent part of the journey up to Scotland sussing out how to use this machine. 
This proved invaluable, as the device was able to give us readings of our altitude whenever we wanted them, as well as being able to pre-program our desired route, and check whether we were keeping to it. As one of the mountains would be done in the dark, this was really useful information.
Last year (1999) David and I drove down to Bucharest, Romania to visit Casa Robin Hood children's home - 1600 miles each way. The GPS also proved helpful on this trip (thank you Garmin, Romsey for the discount!), when linked to a Psion 5MX palmtop running 'Route Planner 1.4' European mapping software.
David takes his 5MX everywhere, especially when he is in Eastern Europe to access his emails, etc. via an infra red link to his Ericsson SH888 mobile phone. The Psion wakes him up every morning with a 'rooster' call, and almost makes his breakfast! Indian curry We had booked in for a curry at an Indian restaurant in Fort William at 8.30 pm Friday evening. An uneventful journey brought us to the Youth Hostel in Glen Nevis at 7.30 pm. An hour to make up the isotonic drink, and get unpacked, and then off to Fort William for the curry. This was where Tim revealed his plan to drink a can of Fosters at the top of each peak - together with Richard. There were no other takers for this plan which struck me as youthful bravado.   BEN NEVIS FROM YHA HOSTEL Although it was early in the morning, the allure of Britain’s highest mountain meant that already by this time the mountain was over-run with people, who all seemed to be walking very slowly. To make sure we couldn't get past too easily, they all made use of aluminium ski-type walking sticks.         SCAFELL PIKE via WASDALE HEAD The journey from Fort William to the M8 in Glasgow was likely to be slow. As it turned out, it wasn't too bad, but we were stuck behind a 52 seat coach carrying some other walkers for quite a few miles in the early part of the journey. By the time we reached Wasdale Head we had not lost any more time, so we were still just ahead of schedule.   The larger drinking plan had been amended by this stage. Richard had abandoned the idea altogether, and Tim had amended the plan to simply carry a can of larger to the top of each peak. He seemed to think it would make the can greatly valuable (he didn't explain who would want to pay over the top for this well travelled can).     We then proceeded with haste back to the bus. We had phoned back to our support team to expect us (which the support team did not pick up due to lousy reception at the foot of the mountain - editor). Adrian was on the path at the bottom taking pictures of us as we walked along the path. He guided us back to the bus but... it was locked and David wasn't there!!! A bit of panic set in as although we were well ahead of schedule by now, having gained another 65 minutes over our estimated time - which in itself we thought was optimistic - we didn't know what lay ahead. As it turned out it was a good thing David wasn't there (he had set off to meet us but passed us by on the other side of some trees), as it ensured we all spent a few minutes stretching our legs before being cramped into the minibus. Adrian went to get David who arrived back to open up the bus. Only a couple of minutes delay, but for those of us who panic reasonably easily (like me) it was a tense couple of minutes. MOUNT SNOWDON via LLANBERIS PATH We all piled on the bus to find our sandwiches and flasks all taken care of. This really was a very big help to us. Adrian at the wheel, and Nigel Mansell eat you heart out.     This knowledge must have helped us on the way down. We walked down without a break, having collected another group of walkers who were a bit lost. (I don't know how they managed to find their way up there in the dark as they didn't use the 'easy' path like us). Anyway its not the best place to be lost at 1.00 am in the morning in sub-zero temperatures, blowing a gale, so they tagged along behind us. I felt we were walking at quite a good pace, but comparing the times we were not really any quicker going down as going up, apart from the steeper part at the top, when we were a bit quicker. The final mile seemed to go on forever. Doing regular time checks we set ourselves a target of under 21 hours. At 20 hours 49 minutes and 16 seconds * (this included the Fort William Railway Station stop !) we arrived at the bottom. Very tired, but very happy. It was good to forget about the clock ticking, as it had stopped,  and to take our time getting changed and getting aboard for our able drivers to take as long as they liked getting us back to Southampton. I got home about 9.30am. Sunday morning. A bath and bed beckoned. However one thing to do before that. I saw a neighbour washing his car, who had told me, before we went, of a work colleague of his who had done it in 21 and a half hours.
At the time I thought that was way beyond our reach, and he had gone on and on about how fit this man was. I couldn't help but go over and gloat at our achievement.WE WERE TRULY BLESSED I am grateful to God and to our support team. Everything went well for us. We didn't have a drop of rain the whole time. When I got back to work I met someone else who had done the 3 peaks the same week end! His experiences were somewhat different. He had done Snowdon first in the rain, then Scafell via Seathwaite (in the rain). All his changes of clothes had been put on the wrong bus. It took him over 30 hours and he didn't get re-united with his clothes until he got back to Glasgow on the way down. Personal Profiles and Reports (images in this section are sourced from internet) Andrew Hill Age, 49 (sshhh); Married - 22 yrs to Chrissy; 4 children age 10 to nearly 18yrs Job, GP. Experience Walking experiences mainly in Snowdonia. I try to get 2-3 days each year with 2 friends, usually February half term, hoping for some snow! My favourite mountain is Tryfan, not very high but lots of fun and challenge (I never think I am going to do it) and looks like a real mountain! 
Also walked in Lake District, Scotland, Dark Peak, Yorkshire Dales, Offers Dyke,
wherever I find myself, I quite enjoy it. No marathons, not managed more
than a couple of Eastleigh 10ks, and not very fast, I failed 3 peaks twice,
once lost on top of Scafell Pike, once beaten back by wind on Snowdon!
I like most things outdoors, but not
very good at anything.
I have played a bit of football. I enjoy my bike. I like dinghy sailing, when I get the chance which isn't very often , which leaves me a scary prospect. Chrissy has been known to jump out of the boat, on a particularly windy day in Scotland, when I missed the approach to the jetty to let her off! Had only one go at skiing which I loved. I enjoy most things out doors, especially if they involve mountains or the sea, and if there is a bit of speed or adrenaline all the better. Fitness training A bit more of what I usually do, exercise bike, usually reading board and medical papers!, swimming when I can, plus a few extras, mainly impressions of the grand old duke, on Butser or St Catherine's hills. Tips
  We didn't seem to have a lot, everyone kept cheerful and battled on despite pain! I was really impressed with Richard, who developed back pain at the beginning of Ben Nevis. It would have been easy to feel then, " I have only just started I'll never make it", especially when it came back every mountain, but he just kept stretching up and carried on. Also Martyn, whose knees gave him real problems, and he just battled on, even when his leg went into acute cramp, when he slipped at the river crossing and thought he had pulled a muscle. Loads of courage from both of them. Hard bits Stomach cramps on the top of Snowdon, and a long walk off Snowdon, rests. On the mountains, we mainly just kept going, which suited me. It is important to stick together, for encouragement and safety but easier said than done! Feelings Really pleased to have done it well, having been beaten by it before, and pleased to have done it with the people I did, and get to know them better. Equipment Head torch was useful, as long as cloud was not down, when the beam did not reach the ground, boots need to be friends, Chris's water carrier seemed a good idea, saved carrying a bottle by hand for constant sips. Clothes The old story of layers is best, walking at speed, generates heat, but the tops were cold. I wore between 1 and 4 , always with one more in the bag if it had been needed. I would have used gloves if I had them on Ben Nevis only. Drinks I thought the isotonic drink was really good. I am sure adequate hydration helped the feeling of well being. Food Wonderful. Proper bread and sandwiches helped a lot. Nibbles Really help when you hit an energy low, I had been given high energy bars which were brilliant. Mapping I am used to OS 1:25000 and like this scale best. Even though paths are clear when you can see them, I wouldn't go up without proper maps.   Really impressed with my first experience of this having worked out how to enter co-ordinates from OS grid! It really came into it's own at night when, the only other way to navigate would be compass and pacing. I think it probably needs getting used to in less rushed situations ideally. I resorted to conventional compass rather than the GPS one simply from familiarity. I would not have spent the night on the top, if we had this on the previous trip! The only problem is that it does so much, it feels like cheating(!) and what about all those redundant map and compass skills ? Would I do anything different? Not have a curry the night before, bring a pair of gloves, avoid the coach loads. The idea of being able to take a different more interesting route of Snowdon if we had some light was appealing, but we were beaten by our own speed there, which was worth it. I wouldn't have wanted to risk darkness on Scaffell Pike !! So no change there. Dave and Adrian, thanks again for your part it was nothing short of brilliant, all the hard work, no sleep, great driving and navigating, wonderful service, good company and cheerful all the time. It was for me, the big added ingredient that made the challenge the success it was. Thanks a lot. I still smile, Adrian, at the 'fireworks under the bed too'. Andrew Chris Haig Age, 41; Married, with 2 children (boys of 7 and 12 ) Over the past approximately 10 years, I have tried to make a habit of going hill walking on one or 2 week-ends a year. Normally either with my brother or a group of blokes. I am not currently a member of any sports clubs, but have belonged to a sea rowing club, and a table tennis club in the past. I ran in the Great South run in Portsmouth about 2 1/2 years ago (10 miles) and have also done a 5 mile road race. Training I find running quite hard - I prefer rowing. I am lucky enought to have a gym where I work. Over the past 6 months I have been to the Gym for approximately one hour per working day. I have also gone on a number of long walks and cycle rides at the week ends, and a few training runs of between 4 and 8 miles. Chris Andy Collins Age, 39; Married with 1 daughter (5). Job University lecturer in Human Genetics at Southampton, research focussing on genes involved in human disease and gene mapping. No sporting interests ! But always cycle to work (12-14 miles round trip). Training - not very much actually, some longish country walks. Interests Natural history and travel the combination of which has taken me to some interesting places and a few mountain areas including Nepal where I trekked in the Annapurna sanctuary and up to the Thorung La pass.   Doing It I think the GPS was excellent, particularly on Snowdon where most of us were struggling at some point. Just to check the altitude and see how much/little there was to go was a great encouragement. It was a real team effort - this was a surprise to me as I am not a particularly 'team' person but it was impressive how we pulled together and this got better as we did more peaks. No one walker really stands out, although Tim's fitness was impressive. The hardest bit was certainly Snowdon both the steep bits near the summit and the terribly long descent. Walking in the dark/fog is pretty depressing. Clothing I was generally happy with the kit I was using - nothing expensive - light walking trousers and mostly T-shirts with a light coat for altitude. We were lucky not to get rain though. Food - I didn't eat much on the climbs. Drink The isotonic drink was very good, but by the end of the second peak I think it was making me sick (!) & went onto water which was much better. I didn't drink all the time while climbing and personally think that two litres is too much to take up the mountain & 1 litre would be enough (with more drinking in the bus later...). Today - my legs feel like they've been through a mangle !, walking is rather slow and a bit painful ! Driving & Support As you know a great deal of it was down to the driving which was practically flawless although slightly terrifying at times (with due respect to Adrian !). It's good to have done the challenge but I wouldn't attempt it again - not even for charity ! Anyhow, thanks again and not just for the driving but also for the excellent organisation, food, support etc.... Andy Richard Hemming Age, 26; Married to Hannah. Job Civil Engineer, designing buildings and Telecom Towers and playing with concrete!!! Interests Football, Golf, Squash, Music. Mountain Goat Experience Many trips into the the Dark Peak / White Peak in Derbyshire including Mam Tor, Kinder Scout, Black Hill etc. Also Yorkshire Dales, Lake District.  Other Achievements Eastleigh 10k 1998, Great South Run 1998 Doing It After the first couple of hundred foot climb on Ben Nevis, I was seriously considering my sanity in agreeing to the challenge, and also with a developing pain in my lower back I had serious concerns personally about being able to complete it. After the summit of Ben was reached, and the descent was started I then realised that as a team if all went well we could achieve this. After Scafell Pike, having made such good time in the preceeding travelling and climb, it was obvious to us that barring a calamity it was going to be a successful challenge, but it did leave Snowdon in the dark. This personally, was the only time that I had concerns on any of the mountains. When we were approaching the the summit in the mist, wind and pitch blackness, and all the torches were doing were reflecting back off the mist, it made finding the path very tricky and a bit treacherous. We did make it with the help of the GPS guiding us.   Training In hindsight, a bit more strength training in my legs may well have been a good idea. Lots of cycling would have helped, as the majority of my training was carried out in a gym, and that can get very boring. We did manage it, and manage it superbly. Teamwork I would just like to add that the team as a whole was superb. There is no way we could have managed the times on the mountains without the support of the backup team providing food and drink. And anybody considering this challenge should sort out a dedicated drivers and a support team, because it will prove invaluable. Rich Martyn Ashmead Aged 41; Married, two kids. Job A geographer and teacher so have had experience of a number of different terrains, including high level walking in Switzerland. Walking experience Have climbed Mount Mulanje in Malawi. 7 years ago started organising a social gathering of walkers which we called the Woolston Warriors to go fell walking in Wales 
for 2 to 3 days, leaving our families and having a challenge of some kind.
Consequently have walked loads of mountains in Wales, too many to mention.
Have climbed Carnedds in North Wales, the whole of the Glyder range, Snowdon, Cader Idris range in mid-Wales, most of the Brecon Beacons, the Black Mountain horseshoe etc etc. Also climbed Carauntoohill, the highest in Ireland. The only mountain in Scotland I've done however is the one people usually leave as their last Munro and I did it as my first and that is Ben More in Mull. Other interests include Football, Cricket and Rugby but past playing days now. More recently have taken up cycling. Martyn Tim Williams Aged 27; Married Job Youth leader @ Kings Community Church, Hedge End (basically therefore a jack of all trades). Interests Any sport especially skiing, fishing, football, cricket and tennis. The only exception being, that most loathsome of sports, hockey.  Walking experience More recently most of my serious walking has been done in the Tararua ranges and on the central plateau, North Island, New Zealand. In this country I have walked in the Scottish Highlands, Lake District, Snowdonia and in South Wales, having completed the Abergavenny 3 Peaks challenge, March 1998. Other achievements: This and that ! Fitness training Aside from my usual fairly active lifestyle I did no specific fitness training. I did however do some walking in my boots to try and limit the effects of blisters. Doing it Rather than piece by piece go through waht happened on the day, as others have already done this, I will just highlight how I found the challenge.. Looking back over the challenge, I can say that we were truly favoured as nothing whatsoever hindered us. I found the walking itself not to be as big a challenge as I had previously expected. Having said this, I sustained no 'injuries', blisters etc. so was not hampered in any way. The biggest issue to me was lack of sleep. Having travelled to Scotland on the Friday and spent a relatively sleepless night in the youth hostel (shared dorms. can be bad news! - editor) , it would be fair to say that I was exhausted by the end of the walk. In fact as we walked the ridge towards the summit of Snowdon I honestly feared falling asleep on my feet. We were also very much blessed with good weather. I am sure it would have been a different kettle of fish had it been pouring with rain and blowing a gale. The 'backup crew' were excellent and really aided in speeding things up and making life as easy as possible for us. It is clear also that all the time spent preparing and planning for the challenge was invaluable as we were totally aware of and prepared for the challenge that faced us. Tim Thank you sponsors CRY would like to thank Corinthian TV who generously sponsored the vehicle fuel and servicing, and to all the many others who  sponsored /supported the CRY TEAM:
Cotswold Outdoor, Hedge End; Adams Morey, Southampton;
Cybersports Nutrition (isotonic drink) and especially Kings Community Church from Hedge End for their support and prayers. The challenge raised just under £4,000 after gift aid benefits and went directly towards CRY's Brasov partnership street outreach work in Romania - reaching needy street kids, orphans and very poor families. Useful links can be found on our Challenge Links page.
All material & content Copyright © CRY unless otherwise stated.
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