Yorkshire 3 Peaks in City Shirt

I used to be on here all the time a few years ago, but like many fell out of love with City and football in general.

But the new owners and the optimism around the club has brought me and my friends back into the fold.

But........I am going to miss the opening game of the season on Saturday because I am doing the Yorkshire 3 Peak challenge to raise money for a local charity Aim Higher, who offer help to families dealing with Autism and other special educational needs.

Weather permitting, I plan to do it in my new home shirt (it won't be as snug when I've finished !!!).

Not sure about the rules on here for posting links, so apologies please take down if not OK.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/steven-hardy5

But if anyone can spare anything, even the price of a pint, it really would make a huge difference to local families struggling to access help for their children and young adults.

Thank you !!!!

Steve.

 

Done

 

Wow thank you Chazz, much appreciated.

 

I've done a bit of training, walking to work etc for a few weeks, but Hull is so frigging flat, not much use!!!!

 

Sponsored - Good luck.

 

Thank you GLP

 

Thank you SCB Ben.

 

Best of luck SGJ, I did the 3 peaks in one day a couple of months back in June, tough challenge. Managed to do it in 11hrs 50mins, recovery took much longer!

 

Done.

 

Done.

 

Done!

 

Done - I have a brother with autism who still relies on charities for help now, well into his 40s.

Funnily enough I walked the Yorkshire 3 Peaks in a City shirt back in May 2014. That was in memory of my Dad and for the Hospice that looked after him in his final days. The weather was appalling, but I managed it in 11h 10mins. Although the final climb up Ingleborough is an absolute killer - think it took me close to an hour to do the final 300 yards or so.

Good luck mate - I could barely move for a week after but did feel a real sense of achievement for completing it,

 

Done, good luck mate.

 

Wow, I forgot just what a good bunch you all are on here.
Big thanks to everyone who has donated so far, it really will make a difference

 

Mate, NO, Thank You!

I have a grandson who is autistic and have taught many students with autism. It’s a great thing you are doing.

 

Good luck SGJ. A great cause and some tough walking ahead.

 

Done mate, enjoy the walk, and a great purpose behind it.

 

Good evening all, just an update on how the weekend went.....

We assembled in the car park of our accommodation, the Golden Lion Bunk rooms in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, to get a briefing by the local guides, to be issued with mobile numbers for emergencies etc.

It started raining whilst we were in the car park, so sadly my new City shirt only saw about 10 minutes before the waterproofs came on (alleged waterproofs!) but long enough for everyone to ask about the season and our chances etc!! A lot of Leeds fans said they though what was happening at Hull reminded them of when their new owners took over and went on a shopping spree.

We had to walk the entire 40km circuit taking in the three peaks, there was no shuttle bus between them (much to the delight of our bus driver who could stay in the dry pub all day, albeit not drinking!)

The first climb began about half six, Pen-Y-Gent, which is a brutal start as it is straight up steep hillside, very muddy, then you have a large section of scrambling up through rocks and boulders trying to keep your feet in the conditions.

We then had the long trek down and began the trek to the next peak, Whernside.
By this time the clouds had lowered even further, the rain was now frankly, pissing it down and almost horizontal, it stayed like this for the rest of the day.
The long walk to Whernside was a long, long slow ascent, step after step, and when you thought you'd reached the top, it turned out the be false peak after false peak as another grey hill loomed out of the cloud.

At the top of Whernside it was horrendous weather, and the worst was yet to come.

Coming down from Whernside was a nightmare, the first half hour or so you are stepping down on boulders roughly the size of large bean bags, but these were covered in mud, and the water was flowing down the hillside in mini streams as the rain got heavier.
I didn't enjoy this bit at all, so dangerous, and really had to concentrate on every foot placing.
I thought I saw a better route down in the grass, and as soon as I stepped off the rocks to the grass I was gone, slipping and sliding and covered in mud with a thump.

We eventually made it to Ingleborough, the third and final peak, and people who had done this before said this was the worst one, which frankly didn't help me!!! But they weren't lying....
It starts with what would be a pleasant hour or so going up a grassy hill on a sunny day, but on a piss wet day, it was like Glastonbury trying get up, we then came to a flat area which had wooden boardwalks stretching into the distance. The only problem was the water level was about 8 inches above the boards, so you were ankle deep in water for ten minutes or so.
Then the steps started, like jack and the beanstalk, disappearing into the clouds and rain, with no end in sight. But eventually we got to the top, after dozens of stops to get my breath, I thought we had done it........
But the challenge had one last laugh....
There, looming in the distance, the clouds cleared slightly to reveal a near vertical climb of maybe 200 metres with people queueing to scramble up the slippery mound of boulders mostly on their hands, knees.

I literally could have just cried my eyes out, I was a broken man, but you don't have a choice you can't turn back, so an hour or so later we had got to the top of the last peak.

The sense of elation was great, but that soon went, as we realised we still had several miles to go to trek down back to our starting point.

My waterproof jacket, waterproof phone pocket and waterproof rucksack were nothing of the sort. Was soaked through by the end of the near on 12 hours, my phone is ****ed and I had to get a new one from EE on Sunday in St Stephens which wasn't good as I was (and still am) walking like a cross between John Wayne and a penguin. Getting down the stairs involved shuffling down on my arse on Sunday!!

So in conclusion....a really really tough day, mainly because of the conditions, had it been dry and sunny it might have been a different kettle of fish, we had no view other than grey clouds and about 50 metres visibility so you were struggling to see the route, other participants etc. Being nearly fifty and a bit chunky never helped either !!!

But its all about the great cause we were doing it for.....Aim Higher who help local families with children and young adults dealing with Autism, and other special educational needs.

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated already, but please please please please, if I haven't bored you all to death, and you've read so far, you can still donate, anything you can afford using the link below.
There is also an update with pics on the Just giving page.
If my phone gets repaired I am hoping to have more pics (fingers crossed)

Thanks again, and all the very best (what about those bloomin Tigers, good win eh!)


https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/steven-hardy5

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Well done mate, hope you're feeling better now. Sounds like you had quite a day.

 

Cheers, legs still stiff as hell, but plenty of hot showers and Deep Heat doing the trick!