Our Lewes Director Scales New Heights: One Man, Three Peaks
In July this year, our Lewes Director, David Beaken, completed the Three Peaks Challenge.
The Three Peaks Challenge is a popular endurance hike where participants aim to climb the highest peaks of Scotland, England, and Wales—Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon—within 24 hours. The total walking distance is around 23 miles (37 km), with a total ascent of about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). Our very own David Beaken took on this monster of a challenge last month to raise money for MIND. David reflects on his hard work and determination below:
David's Diary
I think it is fair to say that I regularly underestimate things, I like to think that it’s a sign of optimism and can-do attitude, rather than naivety or stupidity! However, on this occasion I certainly underestimated this challenge. In the past I have done a number of challenges for charity including half marathons, The London Marathon, Macmillans Longest Golf Day (one year we did The Dyke, Waterhall, West Hove and Brighton & Hove in one day), I have even jumped out of a plane, but this was by far the hardest!! I allowed myself to believe that we were going on a hiking trip, but it was something very different!
Arriving in Scotland
Having spent 10 hours traveling over 500 miles in a small van with our 12 person team we finally arrived in Fort William, Scotland. We were staying in a hostel and found a young man asleep in one of the bunks. He awoke as we went in to dump our bags and said he was exhausted as he had been up Ben Nevis that day. When we asked how he got on he said, “yeah great, I almost got half way before I had to turn back” and that’s when we the velocity of the challenge started to set in ...
The Challenge Begins
At 5pm the next day we started the climb which ended up being 22 miles of the toughest terrain I have encountered including conditions of -9 on the top of Ben Nevis with rain, hail, snow and 80 mph winds. We drove over 500 miles to get from Ben Nevis, to Scafell Pike and on to Snowdon, all within 29 hours on no sleep.
Challenge Completed
But WE DID IT!!! Unfortunately, we didn’t finish in 24 hours which was our target, we climbed the mountains in time but road works, traffic and logistics out of our control intervened, however we conquered the Three Peaks!! It was an emotional journey with a great group of people that it was an honour to be a part of.
All For A Great Cause: MIND
We were raising money for MIND who just do incredible work. Mental health is still a subject not spoken about enough, especially amongst men so I was so thrilled to raise money and awareness for them. Thank you again for your support, to date we have raised £6,526 which is just a mind-blowing effort and a testament to how hard the challenge was and what brilliant people we have around us.
If you're interested in contributing to this fantastic cause, please click here to donate.
