Why walk the Pennine Way I hear you ask...

Me on top of Stac Pollaidh in Assynt

The idea of walking the Pennine Way formed in response to my nephew Peter's fabulous fundraising cycle ride from London to Paris to raise money for The Christie in Manchester. My sister Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2008. She was treated at The Christie during 2008, 2009 and 2010 but she lost her brave fight against this terrible disease on October 16th 2010.

Jane lived in Stockport, Cheshire and I live near Elgin, Moray in the Northeast of Scotland and so the distance between us meant that I couldn't support her as much as I would have liked. My family were a tower of strength to her but I wanted to do something to help. Peter raised nearly £3000 and that inspired me to decide to walk the Pennine Way next year and raise money which will be divided between St Ann's Hospice in Manchester and The Friends of the Oaks in Elgin.

Peter in Paris after his marathon bike ride

 

For anyone who isn't familiar with The Pennine Way, it was Britains first long distance footpath and it runs for 268 miles. The Pennine Way appealed to me for many reasons.

• It is as old as I am, having been opened just a month after I was born in 1965.
• It runs from Edale which is just a few miles from where my sister lived to the Scottish border - symbolically linking us both.
• It is in England and so is not plagued with the dreaded Scottish Midgies (or at least not to the same extent as the Highlands where they can make being outdoors for even a short while an absolute misery between May and September)

I had originally hoped that Jane would be able to wave me off in Edale on her birthday which was 5th July. Sadly that isn't to be and so my walk will now start at around 2pm on Sunday 3rd July and finish on 21st July - 18 days later.

I'm already in training, but I hope to blog about my progress in the months leading up to the walk, what kind of kit I'll be taking with me and anything else that takes my fancy.

Watch this space for links to my Just Giving sites and news about how I get on building up my fitness.