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I used to pursue outlandish tests of alcoholic endurance to create a sense of achievement in my life. Ironically, that habit has left me so indebted that I can no longer afford it, so, instead, I've turned to the far more terrifying pursuit of outlandish tests of physical endurance. Hence this.

 

'This ' - of course - is pretty dumb. As far as I can tell, the 6 marathons that will make up this challenge are 6 of the hardest in Britain. Excluding Britain's hardest road marathon (Snowdonia), they are all off-road, coastal marathons that follow gruelling, wet, muddy, rocky, and excessively hilly - one might even say 'cliffy' - tracks, for 26 unrelenting miles. I've never run one before. 6 miles is about my longest run. My body is not my temple, it is a waste disposal unit. It carries a public health warning. I have to declare myself at customs as hazardous waste. In short - I may die.

 

The seed of the 6 Marathon - 6 Month Challenge was the idea to run what I then believed to be the hardest marathon in Britain back in February of this year with two mates (the same trio who completed the 3-Peaks without a minute to spare 3 years ago). One of us made it to the finish line, myself and the other guy never made it to the starting line, or even to the county. A hellish weekend in Bulgaria saw fit to that.

 

That was the Cornwall marathon, and I have since discovered that, despite being so tough as to cause hardened army types to break down in tears half way through and beg on bended knees to be sent back to central Baghdad and away from this garden of Satan, it is not, in fact, the hardest marathon in Britain, but it does form part of a series of 5 marathons known, somewhat tepidly, as the Coastal Trail Series.

 

Sounds painless doesn't it. Almost inviting. It conjures up images of old boys out with their collies, and women in plaid skirts carrying picnic baskets to favoured spots along the path. Of course, this form of psychological warfare is only to be expected by the kinds of people who dreamt up the idea of getting others to pay good money in order to torture themselves, and then to charge them even more for photographs of themselves during said torture. 

 

No. Coastal Trail Series doesn't quite seem right. I think I prefer, 'The Long, Drawn Out, Mentally Tortuous and Physically Agonizing Tracks to Hell Series'. Or perhaps, 'The 5 Paths to Certain and Excruciatingly Painful Death Series'. Not sure that those woud make much money though.

 

Anyway. The Coastal Trail Series is spread out over Britain's 6 worst months for weather (no, not the summer months, dire though they may be) - October to March. So it seemed obvious to include a sixth, and, just for kicks, to make the sixth the true toughy, king to the throne of Britain's hardest - the Snowdonia Marathon.

 

Why? For something to do. For a good reason to stay off the bottle. Because life living in a van can be incredibly dull. To see if I can do it, and hopefully to say I have done it. Or perhaps because I'm a sadomasochist. A mixture of all these things no doubt.

 

So there we have it. I've told the world. Now the only thing stopping me is being able to get to the start lines on time. I'm going to raise a lot of money for charity (I haven't decided which one yet, but it will be environmental), but I won't be able to raise that money if I can't afford to complete the series, so I'll also be asking for a bit of help to cover the entry fees (around £200 in total) plus travel. I'm not organised on this part yet, but I'll be posting more info soon.

 

In the mean time, if you, or anyone you know, is travelling in the direction of Falmouth to Snowdon around the 25th October, please get in touch! 

 

For Facebook Fans, please join the 6 Months: 6 Marathons group. And to donate, click here:

 

 

 

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