Running 100 miles of trail, uphill for 4 worthy causes:

1. The Duke of Lancaster’s Regimental Charity – so I can give back to the Regimental Family that have been so welcoming and supportive.

2. Home Start Cyprus – to help families and children in the community in which I live.

3. The Learning Refuge – to help those less fortunate in a part of the world I am privileged to be in.

4. Colonel Vasyl Pichnenko’s Family Support Fund – to help the family of a fallen comrade in arms.

The Challenge

I will be using the Sea to Sky Trail Event as the platform for this fundraiser. The Sea to Sky event, organised by Cyprus Trail Runners , is a 135 km 2-day event with an option of starting a day earlier and 26km further back to make it a round 100 miles. I will be doing the 100 miles non-stop and solo. Starting at Meneou Beach, following the coast to Alaminos Beach before turning inland and uphill via Dipotamos Reservior through Lazanias to Palaichori and upwards to Mt Olympus before finishing at Troodos. I have not done anything like this before…

I am hugely grateful for Bryan and Christelle of the Cyprus Trail Runners for letting me do my own thing for charity on their event.

If the above sounds interesting, then you can get involved with this and other events via the Cyprus Trail Runners Facebook page.

The Causes

I couldn’t choose one, so funds will be split between:

(Your donation can be directed to one specifc cause, just mention it in the comment when donating.)

The Duke of Lancaster’s Regimental Charity supports current and serving members and their families in times of need, supports the welfare of all our people and helps conserve the Regiment’s history.

Home-Start offers support, friendship, and practical help to parents with young children, helping them to grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children and widen links in the local community. General information can be found on the website, local information can be found on the Facebook page.

The Learning Refuge is a volunteer-led centre, based in Pafos, that supports migrant people in the form of educational workshops, a safe space for women, children and families, and tries to provide those in need with food, clothing and home ware.

Col Vasyl Pichnenko's Family Support Fund this is not a registered charity but a group of that has come together from all over the world to try and support the family of a fallen comrade in arms. I worked with Vasyl and he quickly became a good friend. He had a good job in the relative safety of Kyiv when the invasion started. He didn’t need to volunteer to lead soldiers on the front, but I doubt he could do anything less. He was killed leading from the front in June 2022, leaving his wife and two young boys trapped in war-torn Irpin with little to no support from the state. We formed a group to try and support his family as best we could.

You can gain a snapshot of my mate Vasyl from this article published in Land Power Magazine, 2018 (page 39):

This of one of his many moving eulogies.