Martin Sayer
The Martin Sayer Five Marathons Southend Pier Walk for the Red Cross
Fundraising for The British Red Cross Society
Story
Since early March I've been 'training' on the quiet and have walked the equivalent of London to John O'Groats (685 miles).
If you know me you might find that incredulous but it's true so please read on!
From the 29th June, (a month today), to 3rd July
inclusive ,I am going to try and attempt to be the 1st person ever to walk the
length of Southend Pier, (the longest pleasure pier in the World), a hundred times. That's
a distance of 134 miles or if you prefer 214.4 kilometers.
Starting 8.30 each morning for 5 days, my goal
is 20 lengths of the pier a day which equates to 26.8 miles/42.9k.
I estimate that each day's walking will take
between 7hrs and 7 3/4 hrs subject to weather conditions and the state of my
feet!
Why bother?
On a cold wet
February afternoon I re-watched the Gandhi Film.
In 1930 he walked 240 miles in 24 days as a protest
against the British Government and their monopoly of the 'salt market' in
India. He was, as we all now know ,eventually
successful (1947) and gained Independence for India from The Mighty British
Empire.
The same night I watched the film I saw the
news and it greatly upset me seeing innocent people being beheaded/murdered for
no other reason than they were of a different religion/culture or were just
simply 'foreigners'. This now seems to have 'progressed' or 'extended' to those
of a different sexuality.
As always in my life, I decided to turn a negative
into a positive. I made up my mind 'then and there' I wanted to do a walk like
Gandhi,but only to raise money for Charity not to
protest against anything.
But maybe this is an opportunity to remind people there are better ways of
getting your point across without having to kill others,and bringing people's
attention to the fact the most successful
'protestors' of 20th Century were Gandhi,Luther King and Mandela all of whom
happened to be pacifists.
The two Charities I have chosen are:
The British Red Cross,who are always there wherever they are needed, helping others whether it as a result of a natural disaster
or a conflict.They continually put their own lives at risk for the benefit of
others.
Royal National Lifeboat Institute, who are not
Government Funded but need to raise £145m a year in order to provide a service
around our Island and, on average rescue 22 people a day,again at their own
personal risk.
Hopefully YOU will 'share it' with all your
friends on Facebook and the donations will increase. I might be doing the
walking but's let's work as a team.
Finally I dedicate this page to all those who have died before they had the chance to draw a pension,we all know someone who has died before their time.In the hope the money we raise here will help The British Red Cross save more young lives.
Thank you so much for reading this and remember - Good people give generously to good causes!
Thanks.
Martin.
ps. If you can think of anyway you can help please
email. martin@4leggedfriends.com