Peaks and troughs

I must be mad.

Just before Christmas last year I mentioned that I was planning on doing a coast-to-coast walk this summer in aid of a good cause. Quite a few of you said generally supportive things. Which was nice.

Then I started doing a whole heap of walking around the English countryside in an attempt to get myself used to hiking long distances. Which had the effect of making me rather red-faced, while providing hours of free entertainment for passers-by.

The trouble was this, though. I soon calculated that walking Hadrian's Wall in six days would cost me something like £500 in transport and accommodation. This started to put the whole endeavour firmly into the category of 'Jolly Boy's Week Off'. It became difficult to justify. Seriously, I could have just written out a cheque to the charity instead and spent summer sitting on my backside, eating pies.

And believe me, I was tempted. But I'd lost my chequebook.

So instead I'm doing something else. In two and a half weeks time, I'm going to climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales, all on one trip and preferably within 24 hours. The good cause - Diabetes UK - remains the same.

And it would be great if you could spare me a few quid to make it all worthwhile. Don't worry, there's a widget on the right-hand side of this blog to remind you. Or I could just post the link again.

The National Three Peaks is quite a challenge, and I'm not really in great shape. So why do it? Well, my dad used to tell us that one should always try things out. "If you don't try you'll never know." (Mind you, he also used to say, "If at first you don't succeed, give up. There's no point being a bloody idiot about these things.")

But he had a point with that first comment. I have to try this. As I've said before, I'm tired of being the bloke who drives the van for events like this. Who organises the meetings and writes the communications, but doesn't pull on his boots when things start getting strenuous. This time I'm going to have a go.

And if you've got a pound or two going spare.....