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My Crazy Challenge - 100 miles in 5 days

As some of you may be aware, in October I will be taking part in a gruelling 100 mile race in the Indian Himalayas. I have run numerous races in the past, usually 10Ks, 1/2 marathons and 1 marathon so far, but have never done so to raise money for charity. Well, now it's my turn to give something back to the community.

The race involves five days of back-to-back running between altitudes of 6,500ft (2,000m) and 12,000ft (6,500m) on rough tracks with some long and difficult climbs. On the first day alone there is a cumulative altitude gain 10,000ft. To put that into perspective, tandem skydives usually take place from an altitude of 12,000ft!

Accommodation is rudimentary in the mountain huts (electricity only in common areas; no flushing toilets; no showers). Temperatures can get up to 25 degrees during the day, though it feels warmer in the thin air, and drop below freezing at night. The race is run in daily stages of 24 - 20 - 26 - 13 - 17 miles. Training for the distance will not be too different from training for a marathon but will involve more long runs on consecutive days. The hard bit will be the altitude and coping with the steep hills, not helped by my living in the Cambridgeshire fens!

The Charity

I will be running to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society, the leading UK care and research charity for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias and their families. Dementia describes different brain disorders that trigger a loss of brain function. These conditions are all usually progressive and eventually severe. There are more than 100 different types of dementia but Alzheimer's disease is the most common type, affecting around 417,000 people in the UK. Symptoms of dementia include memory loss, confusion and problems with speech and understanding. The condition is terminal. One person in every 14, aged over 65, in the UK has dementia and the disease costs the country £17 billion every year or £539 a second.

There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease or any other type of dementia. Delaying the onset of dementia by five years would halve the number of deaths from the condition, saving 30,000 lives a year.

Dementia research is desperately underfunded. The government invests eight times less in dementia research than cancer research. Alzheimer's Society invests over £6 million each year in dementia research to improve care for people today and find a cure for tomorrow.

Over to You!

As you can see it really is a worthy charity and further details of the society and what funds raised are put towards can be found at www.alzheimers.org.uk

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Alzheimer's Society gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation. All the costs of my race have been fully funded by me so all the money you donate goes straight to charity.

So all that's left for you to do is click some buttons, sponsor me (whether it's £1 or £100 I will be thoroughly grateful), revel in the feel-good factor of donating to a good cause, and marvel at the downright stupidity / craziness / impressiveness of me attempting a Himalayan 100 mile stage race.