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When was the last time you stopped to ask yourself what really matters most? When was the last time you had a chat with your future-self about how well youre doing right now? When was the last time you gave yourself permission to put yourself first, or encouraged your loved ones to do the same? Welcome to Home to Rome. This is what its all about.
In 2012, after 6-months of pushing his mind to the limit having recently joined the Snow Camp team, Dan was hospitalised, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and faced the toughest mental battle of his life. In 2017, with huge thanks to Snow Camp for their patience, empathy and compassion during his recovery, Dan ran from the Colosseum (Rome) to the London Eye to celebrate his recovery and fundraise for Snow Camp as he crossed the Alps. Now, hes running back again. Why? To celebrate the power of putting ourselves first when we need to.
Starting on Saturday 29th April 2023, Dan will set off to run 1100 miles in 35 days from the London Eye to the Colosseum in Rome.
Averaging 35 miles per day and supported by his family in their Swift motorhome, Dans route takes him East along the River Thames to Greenwich Park then on to Canterbury before heading for the channel in Folkstone. From Calais onwards, its a straight line to Lake Geneva in Switzerland. From there, Dan crosses the Alps into Italy via the Great St Bernard Pass, dropping down to the Aosta Valley before tackling the tantalising trails of Tuscany and the final blast into Rome, finishing at the Colosseum on Friday 2nd June at 3pm.
Alongside his support for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (a charity and cause very close to his heart), Dan is once again dedicating The Alps Stage to Snow Camp with a minimum fundraising target of £2,000 (already increased thanks to your generosity) to fund a minimum of 20 young people onto Snow Camp's life-changing journey in the charities 20th anniversary year.
The Alps Stage is a 86-mile beast with 3872-metres of vertical (combined) which Dan will tackle in just 3 days.
Here's the game-plan:
May 16th) Martigny (Switzerland) to the Great St Bernard Pass (Switzerland/Italy) - 28 miles with 1582m of elevation gain.
May 17th) Great St Bernard Pass (Switzerland/Italy) to Aosta (Italy) - 24 miles with 2290m of decent.
May 18th) Aosta to Pont-St-Martin (Italy) - 34 miles with undulating trails through the Aosta Valley.
Whether its a kind & generous donation towards Dan's fundraising target, fundraising for Home to Rome yourself by virtually running this stage over a time-scales of your choosing (84 miles plus 2290m of elevation gain; the height of the Great St Bernard Pass), shouting about the adventure with your friends and family or getting more involved however you wish, Dan and his family can't thank you enough for joining them for the journey.
To find out more about the adventure visit hometorome.run or follow Dan on social @IamDanKeeley. To find out more about Snow Camp's life-changing work visit snow-camp.org.uk .