Bryan Clover, ceo of The Rainy Day Trust completed the inaccurately named Rainy Day Ramble, covering 175 miles to raise over £5,700 so far for the industry charity.
Bryan tackled challenging terrain and adverse weather as well as injuries during his epic week’s walk, which set out to traverse the coastal path from Newquay round to Mevagissey in seven days. Walking with friend, David Crane, Bryan was also joined by Chris Chapman, a local young farmer who was inspired by Bryan’s Facebook posts.
Bryan reports: “We were ready for poor weather and on our first day it didn’t disappoint; pouring rain and 30 knot winds made the first few hours hard going, with strong gusts pushing us near to the cliff edge on occasions. In addition, the hills were steeper and longer than the planning had suggested. Instead of the average of 4,000 feet per day of climb, we were doing nearer 5,000 feet, which was soon to add up in fatigue.”
All three walkers carried on walking despite injuries; Bryan suffered a sprained knee on the third day. He recounts: “Our various apps showed that we were taking something like 58,000 steps a day and burning between 5,500 and 6,000 calories each day. We quite literally couldn’t snack and eat fast enough to replace what we were burning.”
With little time to enjoy the views, Bryan reflects: ”We had to maintain a solid 3mph whenever we could, just to finish the day’s stretch in daylight.”
With the final day bringing wind speeds of 64mph as well as more heavy downpours, the trio re-scheduled their final 19 miles, which have now been completed under safer conditions.
Bryan thanks supporters, including KitchenCraft, bira, BHETA, Lawsons and Home Hardware, as well as many individuals who have sponsored the walk.
You can still support Bryan’s endeavours by going to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rainydayramble
Members of the housewares industry can also embark on their own sponsored challenge as part of the #Challenge175 anniversary celebrations.
Top: Bryan and fellow walker Chris paused to enjoy an unusual moment of sunshine during the sponsored walk.
