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It's coming up for three years since we lost our pal Vera to cancer and from humble thoughts of what we could do and the massive support given from so many people, either from participating or donating we've raised over £47,600 for Maggie's, Macmillan and Cancer research. Who would ever have thought that possible! A lot of people have achieved individual goals, perhaps done something they never would have dreamt of and a lot of lasting friendships have been made along the way. From the psycic night, the channel swim, the Nevis Trek 13 and 14 and Maggies 13 and 14 we've seen so many push themselves that little bit further and help each other along the way, mostly with a smile! This year we intended doing Maggie's once again but unfortunately Maggie's decided not to run the event, (if only they had known we had 14 already to sign up!). That got us thinking about what else might be out there and next thing we knew 12 of us had signed up for the Ben Nevis Charity Challenge to be held on the 20th June.  This of course all sounds great from a centrally heated room at some point before Christmas but here we are with only 8 weeks to go. Taking part we have Team Vera One; Dougie Cameron, Ian Sutherland, Conor Sutton, Ray Montgomery, Team Vera Two; Carol Lamond, Jim Lamond, Ross MacNab, Zoe Thomson Team Vera Three; Douglas Proudfoot, Mark Douglas, Laura-Jane Cameron and Andy Taylor all supported by Paul Ritchie. Training has been ongoing and is picking up now with the Pentlands every Sunday, cycling at night and a few trips already up the Ben.  The event invloves; starting from Fort William 07.00ish, climb Ben Nevis, on return change into cycling gear and cycle up beyond Spean Bridge to Loch Lochy, (15 Mls), jump into a canoe (or rather 2 indian canoes strapped together to form a 4 seat raft) and paddle round a 4km course, back onto your bike and another 10mls back to Fort William. Job done and hopefully in 9hrs or so although that remains to be seen! With luck we'll get all three teams safely across the finish line (even if the head torches are required!). It would be great to pass the £50,000 mark and I know from the opportunity we've had to meet the charity representatives that the money raised is well spent.  We seem to hear of cancer affecting so many people these days but we also are more conscious now of the growing number of people beating the disease and gaining precious time with loved ones and friends they may not have had before.  If you could help us meet our target we are all very appreciative and for us it makes it all worthwhile.

Cheers

Ray on behalf of Vera One, Two and Three

And so it was on Saturday morning past we 12 made our way to the Nevis Centre for what was to prove to be an awesome day. We had been allocated our start times the night before with Vera 1; 07.11, Vera 2; 07.13 and Vera 3; 07.15. That meant we were all at the start for 06.00 to get the bikes and cycle gear into the Nevis Centre in Fort William and be ready to start for the Ben just after 7.00. The weather wasn't great by normal standards with low cloud, mist and some rain but for us was probably ideal given the challenge ahead. Spirits were high as we all started off on what had become a longer walk in than expected to the youth hostel in Glen Nevis before a very steep climb to meet the path coming up from the visitor centre. The hill was very busy with other charity events and even at just after 8.00 things were getting a bit congested. Vera 2 found their rhythm early on and set a cracking pace up the hill to reach the top first amidst the snow still covering the summit plateau. There was much camaraderie on the hill with all the different charity groups helping each other on, this being especially true when you've made the top and on the way down are more than happy to offer a word of encouragement to someone who is running out of steam on the way up! Having started teams 72, 73 and 74 from 88 taking part Vera 1 and Vera 2 were back down off the hill into the Nevis Centre in positions 7 and 11 so we knew that our hill times had been decent (must be all the down hill running in the Pentlands although it never seemed a very good idea at the time). Vera 3 had found a slower pace but kept at it and passed many of the teams that had started earlier. After a short break the bikes beckoned and Vera 2 again set the pace beyond which Vera 1 could make up although we did get quite close at the canoe stage. It was a great laugh and thank goodness we had managed a practice in the boats at Levenhall. Back on the bikes and the last 10 miles helped enormously by the fact you know you are heading for home. Vera 2 recorded a staggering time of under 9 hrs and Vera 1,   9 hrs. 2 mins which I honestly never thought possible!!  Vera 3 came in around the 12 hour mark which again is a huge achievement and a reflection of the huge effort put in by so many people. The icing on the cake became evident at the award ceremony when it transpired Vera 1 won the Golden Oldies award for the fastest team with a combined age of over 180 yrs ( easy when you've got Dougie and I in the team!) and Vera 2 won the fastest mixed male/female team. ( albeit Jim and Ross now reckon they were  held back by the ladies!)

As the organizers said at the briefing the event wasn't a race and for us I don't think we ever lost sight of the fact we were doing this for such a good cause and had been so well supported through your fantastic donations to Just Giving. Everyone of us will take something different from the event and the training days put in in the weeks leading up to it but for me special thanks to everyone that took part and  particularly to Paul and Linda for supporting us all on the day, you were all brilliant.

Thanks to all

from

Dougie, Ray, Conor, Ian, Carol, Jim, Zoe, Ross, Douglas, Mark, Laura-Jane, and Andy

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