On a sunny weekend
at the beginning of June, a team of 15 from Romsey
Round Table successfully completed the Three Peaks
Challenge, a physically and mentally demanding
challenge that involves climbing the Three Highest
Peaks in Scotland, England and Wales respectively
in 24 hours. They were undertaking the challenge
to raise £10,000 for Naomi House, a Children’s’
Hospice that provides respite and terminal care
to children across central southern England but
this target was exceeded by over 50 per cent! |
|  One
Hour to go
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Chairman
Alan Thompson explains that the Challenge wasn’t
just about raising money. He says, “Having
recruited 9 new members last year, we wanted to
undertake a high profile event that everyone could
participate in and that meant that new and old
members had to work together as a team to achieve
– something that gave us a sense of purpose”.
The participants were split into two teams of
walkers – a team of eight and a team of
four – and a support team of three who drove
between the mountains and prepared meals.
The Challenge started at 4pm on Saturday 3rd June
at bottom of Ben Nevis (4400 feet). On a mild
sunny afternoon the two teams made their ascent
in three and a half hours. The effort was worth
it as the top of the mountain was covered in snow
and above the clouds with views for miles.
Unfortunately one of the group injured his ankle
part of the way up the mountain and was unable
to take part in the rest of the challenge. However,
he escaped lightly – later on in the evening
someone from another team slipped and broke his
leg and Romsey Round Tablers looked on as he was
air lifted off the mountain by a helicopter.
After taking two and a half hours to walk back
to the base of Ben Nevis the team had a quick
meal before jumping in the vehicles for a six
hour and 275 mile drive to the Lake District.
The walk up and down Scafell Pike (3,200 feet)
took four and a half hours. On the way down from
Scafell Pike, a second walker from the larger
team injured his knee and was unable to climb
the third mountain.
It was then time for the final leg of the challenge.
After a four hour drive the teams arrived in North
Wales early on Sunday afternoon about half an
hour apart from each other. Despite being exhausted,
both teams climbed Mount Snowdon (3,560 feet)
in just over two hours.
In the end, one team completed the Challenge in
23 hours and five minutes and the other in 23
hours and 45 minutes.
Chairman, Alan Thompson says, “For each
of us, this was the hardest and most physically
demanding thing we have ever done. In less than
24 hours we walked 25 miles, climbed over 10,000
feet and drove 450 miles. At most, we had three
hours sleep and apart from one hot meal, we survived
on high energy drinks, snacks and fruit. However,
the sense of achievement when we reached the top
of Snowdon on Sunday was fantastic. There were
handshakes, hugs and even a few tears”.
The planning for this event started back in January.
Alan adds “Everyone associated with Romsey
Round Table played a part in our success. Some
people were unable to come with us as they had
prior commitments but they helped with arranging
accommodation, transport and sponsorship. Wives,
partners and families have been extremely supportive
and during the weekend everyone who took part
worked together to ensure that we were completed
the challenge. I am so proud to be associated
with this challenge and with the people that all
worked hard to ensure it’s success. It was
unfortunate that a couple of the guys injured
themselves and could not complete the challenge
but they are already making plans to go back later
in the year and finish what they started”.
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Vice Chairman Peter Robinson comments on how the
event achieved its aim of being a great team building
event. “We have all learnt a lot about ourselves,
what drives us in times of hardship and also a
lot about each other. As a result of the whole
event we are much stronger and much more motivated
to work together as a team. This will allow us
to carry on supporting the community in Romsey
and to raise more money for local good causes
for years to come”.
Hazel Whitehead, Fundraising Co-ordinator for
Naomi House says, “Wow! What can I say?
Not only did they complete this amazing challenge
they also managed to smash their fundraising target
of £10,000. I would like to say a huge thank
you on behalf of the children and their families
at Naomi House who will benefit so much from this
donation. It means so much that this money was
raised by the local community, as we rely almost
entirely on the community to help keep the hospice
running. So thank you to one and all”.
More photographs can be found in our Gallery.
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Summit
of Ben Nevis
Summit
of Scafell Pike 
The
final leg....
All
Done & Well Done 
