Tuesday 24 December 2013

We Arrived, We Survived

WE DID IT.

175 miles from London to Stoke-on-Trent.

For Christmas.

For Charity.

For the Greater Good.
 
It took 41 hours non-stop.

Now I'm sittin' my ass down on me Mum's sofa, with crazy dog Paddy lyin' on me feet, me bro Mike chillin' with his feet elevated next to me sippin' a cold vodka martini, and me Mum upstairs takin' a looooong hot well deserved bath.

We're happy. We're resting. We're recovering. Malcolm and my bro Stephen will come round tomorrow for Christmas day and lunch. And I'm writin' this goddamn blogpost to give you the snippet lowdown on what's happened the last few days, before a mammoth summary when I can be arsed when Christmas is over...

snippet 1:
TIME

My Brother Michael "Marathon Mike" Fowler took a 14 hour journey from New York, USA, to London with the sole reason of running 175 miles for charity.

He arrived Friday morning, and we set off together from London at 8am Saturday 21st December. Mike had a 5 hour jet lag to deal with, but was fully prepared to run 175 miles over a time period of 60-70 hours.



In the end, Mike ran 110 continuous miles. It took 29 hours non-stop, thru the night.



Me, I could not run because of the goddamn ruptured ligament in my foot, so I biked next to my brother when he was running and walked next to him when he was walking.



In the end, I biked and walked 175 continuous miles. It took 41 hours non-stop, thru the night.





snippet 2:
CONDITIONS
We battled several mini rain showers, and two enormous thunder and hail storms, with freezing temperatures during the night.

We ran, biked and walked marathon after marathon after marathon thru thick mud inches deep. We changed our socks and clothes at least 10 times.

We both almost fell into the Grand Union Canal.

We ate, drank (and went to the toilet) by the canal side.












snippet 3:
DIET
We ate:
KFC, Greggs pasties, McDonalds, M&Ms, kit-kats, tins of baken beans and spaghetti O's, French fries, Clif bars, bananas, energy gels, sandwiches, mince pies, chicken kebab, cheeseburgers, pizza, chocolate covered goji berries, nuts and raisins, AND, CRUCIALLY, CHAYSE'N'BRINE SOWYCE OATCAKES...

We drank:
Water, Gatorade, coffee, red bull, beer, vodka, gin.









snippet 4:
THE DARK
Mike and I ran, biked and walked 15 hours together alone thru the darkness. It felt like the longest night in the world ever, like daylight would never come. We strained the muscles in our neck and shoulders because for 15 hours we could only look down in front of our feet to shine the light from our headlamp to lead the way thru the mud.

We were told today that it was actually officially the shortest daylight day of the year.


 

snippet 5:
HYPOTHERMIA
We both suffered hypothermia, several times. When you're running/cycling, your body temperature rises. When you're moving continuously for that length of time every time you stop you start shivering and shaking like a goddamn leaf on a tree. But, it's all good. You just need the correct food and liquid and just keep going. You get over it.





 

snippet 6:
HALLUCINATIONS

We both experienced hallucinations due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation.





Mike was seeing puddles where there were no puddles, mud where there was no mud.

Me, my hallucinations came when I was cycling around 8/9pm on Sunday evening, 36 hours in. I was seeing half the road as water, like over the half of the white lines that separate the traffic - one half where I was cycling was tarmac and the other half was water. I was also seeing my shadow on the bike change into animals like foxes and rabbits as the cars came past me and their headlights moved and distorted my shadow on the road.

snippet 7:
ANGELS ALONG THE WAY

We both met wonderful human beings along the route, people who selflessly helped us and gave us money in cash for our charities when they heard what we were doing. There was also an angel man who after he saw us, when Mike was in a particular bad patch of pain, returned to us 20 minutes later with home made mince pies and sloe gin.







snippet 8:
ANNE - IMMEDIATE LEGEND

The most Anne had ever ran before was 26.2 miles - a marathon. On Saturday 21st December Anne rocked up, and rolled off a cool 50 miles straight running with Mike.




50 fuckin' miles
(sorry for swearing Mum).

Congratulations to Anne on her very first ULTRA marathon.

Anne Paque: 50 miles in 12 hours.

AMAZING.







snippet 10:
MELTDOWNS

Both Mike and I suffered mental & physical meltdowns. But we both got up and continued all the goddamn same.





snippet 11:
THE FINISH

We said we would finish this thing together and, despite ruptured ligaments, enflamed tendons, damaged cartlidge, swollen knees - we did. We walked the last mile together. I mean to say, we were walking like Robocop at that point. But, we walked the last mile together all the goddamn same, as brothers, as warriors of the light.








snippet 12:
THE TRIPLE AAALLSTARS

We both had an unbelievable crew of friends and family to support us, to drive, to navigate, to give us food & drink, who coped with exhaustion induced temper tantrums.

The Triple AAA Amazing Angel All-Stars selflessly gave time, money, energy, a sleepless night, and incredible passion to Simon's Rocky Road.


Marcia, Dave, Pete, James, Phil, Rosa, Johnny, Anne, Chris, Diane...

TAKE A BOW NOW!!!







snippet 13:
YO MUM! MERRY CHRISTMAS!


One of my main objectives was to wish my Mum a super Merry Christmas. And we did.



 
snippet 13:
THE COSTS

All of this. Everything you read. We have paid for out of our own pocket. We do this for charity. Mike flew from New York to the UK with the sole purpose to do this run to raise money for charity. All costs we paid for ourselves. Mike, me, all the crew - everyone gives their time, money and energy for the Greater Good.

IF and WHEN you donate to our charity pages our costs are NOT deducted.

EVERY single penny you donate for me goes directly to MIND (www.justgiving.com/simonsrockyroad DONATE NOW).

EVERY single cent you donate for Mike goes directly to Shine on Sierra Leone (www.crowdrise.com/running175miles DONATE NOW).

snippet 14:
THE BENEFITS


So far, together, we've raised over £35,000 / $45,000.


PLEASE - HELP US RAISE MORE
DONATE CASH NOW to our charities
PLEASE SUPPORT
2 BROTHERS
175 MILES
NON-STOP
41 HOURS
SUPPORT US NOW

AND

MERRY
CHRISTMAS
TO
EVERYONE
!!!
 


- - - - - - -

http://www.simonsrockyroad.blogspot.it/2013/10/my-brother-part-one.html


Approx 24 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia. About 1.5 million more will be diagnosed this year.

I want people to know it's OK not to be OK, to never suffer in silence.
 

I'm doing this to raise money for Mind - the UK's largest mental health charity.


You could donate by clicking this link:
www.justgiving.com/simonsrockyroad
You could also help me by sharing this blog, and encouraging people to read it. Just copy and paste the link below:
www.simonsrockyroad.blogspot.com
1 in 4 people will suffer from mental illness.

It WILL affect you directly or indirectly at some stage of your life.

Let's help each other.

PLEASE.

TOGETHER,

WE can save lives.
  

---------------------------------------- 
CONTACT:
SIMONSROCKYROAD@GMAIL.COM
----------------------------------------

We Arrived, We Survived

WE DID IT.

175 miles from London to Stoke-on-Trent.

For Christmas.

For Charity.

For the Greater Good.
 
It took 41 hours non-stop.

Now I'm sittin' my ass down on me Mum's sofa, with crazy dog Paddy lyin' on me feet, me bro Mike chillin' with his feet elevated next to me sippin' a cold vodka martini, and me Mum upstairs takin' a looooong hot well deserved bath.

We're happy. We're resting. We're recovering. Malcolm and my bro Stephen will come round tomorrow for Christmas day and lunch. And I'm writin' this goddamn blogpost to give you the snippet lowdown on what's happened the last few days, before a mammoth summary when I can be arsed when Christmas is over...

snippet 1:
TIME

My Brother Michael "Marathon Mike" Fowler took a 14 hour journey from New York, USA, to London with the sole reason of running 175 miles for charity.

He arrived Friday morning, and we set off together from London at 8am Saturday 21st December. Mike had a 5 hour jet lag to deal with, but was fully prepared to run 175 miles over a time period of 60-70 hours.



In the end, Mike ran 110 continuous miles. It took 29 hours non-stop, thru the night.



Me, I could not run because of the goddamn ruptured ligament in my foot, so I biked next to my brother when he was running and walked next to him when he was walking.



In the end, I biked and walked 175 continuous miles. It took 41 hours non-stop, thru the night.





snippet 2:
CONDITIONS
We battled several mini rain showers, and two enormous thunder and hail storms, with freezing temperatures during the night.

We ran, biked and walked marathon after marathon after marathon thru thick mud inches deep. We changed our socks and clothes at least 10 times.

We both almost fell into the Grand Union Canal.

We ate, drank (and went to the toilet) by the canal side.












snippet 3:
DIET
We ate:
KFC, Greggs pasties, McDonalds, M&Ms, kit-kats, tins of baken beans and spaghetti O's, French fries, Clif bars, bananas, energy gels, sandwiches, mince pies, chicken kebab, cheeseburgers, pizza, chocolate covered goji berries, nuts and raisins, AND, CRUCIALLY, CHAYSE'N'BRINE SOWYCE OATCAKES...

We drank:
Water, Gatorade, coffee, red bull, beer, vodka, gin.









snippet 4:
THE DARK
Mike and I ran, biked and walked 15 hours together alone thru the darkness. It felt like the longest night in the world ever, like daylight would never come. We strained the muscles in our neck and shoulders because for 15 hours we could only look down in front of our feet to shine the light from our headlamp to lead the way thru the mud.

We were told today that it was actually officially the shortest daylight day of the year.


 

snippet 5:
HYPOTHERMIA
We both suffered hypothermia, several times. When you're running/cycling, your body temperature rises. When you're moving continuously for that length of time every time you stop you start shivering and shaking like a goddamn leaf on a tree. But, it's all good. You just need the correct food and liquid and just keep going. You get over it.





 

snippet 6:
HALLUCINATIONS

We both experienced hallucinations due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation.





Mike was seeing puddles where there were no puddles, mud where there was no mud.

Me, my hallucinations came when I was cycling around 8/9pm on Sunday evening, 36 hours in. I was seeing half the road as water, like over the half of the white lines that separate the traffic - one half where I was cycling was tarmac and the other half was water. I was also seeing my shadow on the bike change into animals like foxes and rabbits as the cars came past me and their headlights moved and distorted my shadow on the road.

snippet 7:
ANGELS ALONG THE WAY

We both met wonderful human beings along the route, people who selflessly helped us and gave us money in cash for our charities when they heard what we were doing. There was also an angel man who after he saw us, when Mike was in a particular bad patch of pain, returned to us 20 minutes later with home made mince pies and sloe gin.







snippet 8:
ANNE - IMMEDIATE LEGEND

The most Anne had ever ran before was 26.2 miles - a marathon. On Saturday 21st December Anne rocked up, and rolled off a cool 50 miles straight running with Mike.




50 fuckin' miles
(sorry for swearing Mum).

Congratulations to Anne on her very first ULTRA marathon.

Anne Paque: 50 miles in 12 hours.

AMAZING.







snippet 10:
MELTDOWNS

Both Mike and I suffered mental & physical meltdowns. But we both got up and continued all the goddamn same.





snippet 11:
THE FINISH

We said we would finish this thing together and, despite ruptured ligaments, enflamed tendons, damaged cartlidge, swollen knees - we did. We walked the last mile together. I mean to say, we were walking like Robocop at that point. But, we walked the last mile together all the goddamn same, as brothers, as warriors of the light.








snippet 12:
THE TRIPLE AAALLSTARS

We both had an unbelievable crew of friends and family to support us, to drive, to navigate, to give us food & drink, who coped with exhaustion induced temper tantrums.

The Triple AAA Amazing Angel All-Stars selflessly gave time, money, energy, a sleepless night, and incredible passion to Simon's Rocky Road.


Marcia, Dave, Pete, James, Phil, Rosa, Johnny, Anne, Chris, Diane...

TAKE A BOW NOW!!!







snippet 13:
YO MUM! MERRY CHRISTMAS!


One of my main objectives was to wish my Mum a super Merry Christmas. And we did.



 
snippet 13:
THE COSTS

All of this. Everything you read. We have paid for out of our own pocket. We do this for charity. Mike flew from New York to the UK with the sole purpose to do this run to raise money for charity. All costs we paid for ourselves. Mike, me, all the crew - everyone gives their time, money and energy for the Greater Good.

IF and WHEN you donate to our charity pages our costs are NOT deducted.

EVERY single penny you donate for me goes directly to MIND (www.justgiving.com/simonsrockyroad DONATE NOW).

EVERY single cent you donate for Mike goes directly to Shine on Sierra Leone (www.crowdrise.com/running175miles DONATE NOW).

snippet 14:
THE BENEFITS


So far, together, we've raised over £35,000 / $45,000.


PLEASE - HELP US RAISE MORE
DONATE CASH NOW to our charities
PLEASE SUPPORT
2 BROTHERS
175 MILES
NON-STOP
41 HOURS
SUPPORT US NOW

AND

MERRY
CHRISTMAS
TO
EVERYONE
!!!
 


- - - - - - -

http://www.simonsrockyroad.blogspot.it/2013/10/my-brother-part-one.html


Approx 24 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia. About 1.5 million more will be diagnosed this year.

I want people to know it's OK not to be OK, to never suffer in silence.
 

I'm doing this to raise money for Mind - the UK's largest mental health charity.


You could donate by clicking this link:
www.justgiving.com/simonsrockyroad
You could also help me by sharing this blog, and encouraging people to read it. Just copy and paste the link below:
www.simonsrockyroad.blogspot.com
1 in 4 people will suffer from mental illness.

It WILL affect you directly or indirectly at some stage of your life.

Let's help each other.

PLEASE.

TOGETHER,

WE can save lives.
  

---------------------------------------- 
CONTACT:
SIMONSROCKYROAD@GMAIL.COM
----------------------------------------