By now you’ll probably know all about CoastPathRun, the epic trail running odyssey that Englishman Tom Bland and myself have planned for June this year. In a nutshell it’s a 1,014 km mission along the UK’s longest trail – the South West Coast Path – that we are trying to knock off in just two weeks. WARNING: don’t reach for your calculator to workout the average daily mileage it will scare you. Well, it certainly scares me!

Now, when we New Zealanders see “coastal path” and “UK” we probably also think “flat” but where we’re going nothing could be further from the truth. Over the course of the fortnight, Tom & I need to climb and descend 35,000m. That’s the equivalent of going up and down Everest from sea level 4 times!

Or think of it this way – it’s equivalent to scaling and descending the Sky Tower 180 times (13 times a day).

Or this way… if they made a flight of stairs that rose 35,000m then there’d be almost 200,000 steps to climb and descend!

So CoastPathRun demands that we are very hill fit. And what better way to get hill fit than to run short, sharp hills akin to those that we’ll be encountering along the South West Coast. Hence, Everest in A Day, my attempt to climb and descend North Head in Devonport, Auckland a total of 148 times within 24 hours. Each circuit is 60m up to the summit and 60m back down to Cheltenham Beach. Done 148 times this gives the equivalent altitude gain & loss to ascending and descending Everest from sea level. All told, it’s 8,880m of up and 8,800m of down.

Our mission is to promote exercise, and in particular trail running, as a way of maintaining good mental health. But it’s also about supporting charities doing great work in this area. I am running to raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation NZ so as well as being a great training exercise, Everest in a Day will help promote the bigger challenge and the charity.

For a sample of what I’m in for on the weekend of April 21-22, check out the wee preview video that I’ve had a bit of fun making:

And if after watching that you feel the urge to grab your credit card and make a donation to the cause then we’d love you for ever. Just click here to go to my fundraising page 

To follow our progress, both in training and during the run itself, check out our Facebook Page and give us a ‘Like’

Big thanks,

Mal