LOCAL man, Jack Harrington has put his body to the test once again for charity, but this time on two wheels.
Jack is no stranger to pounding the pavements for charity, having completed many races including the Rome Marathon last year and the London Marathon this year, but last month Jack swapped two feet for two wheels and set himself the challenge of completing the City to Summit event – Edinburgh to Ben Nevis.
The route starts with a half marathon from Edinburgh to North Queensferry before the transition to cycle 112 miles up into the highlands to Fort William, culminating in a off-road marathon up Ben Nevis, before descending back down to the finish line in Fort William. The cut off time to complete the event is 20 hours.
Jack completed the half marathon and the 112 mile bike ride but didn’t make the cut off time of 4pm to climb Ben Nevis.
Jack said, “The City to Summit event was massively out of my comfort zone and I was apprehensive, as were others, about undertaking it. As more of a runner than a cyclist, I knew I was going to find the 180k bike leg in under 9 hours as a cut off, a tall order.
“Unfortunately the weather turned as we got into the Highlands and cycling into a headwind uphill became relentless. I got to the end of the cycle leg at 6.30pm after being on the bike for 11 hours. This meant the events company organised by Rat Race would not allow me to attempt the final trail marathon up Ben Nevis.”
Jack took part in the event to raise money for Young Minds, a mental health charity that supports young people and parents.
Jack added, “Young Minds exists so that young people have the strongest possible voice in improving their mental health. Young minds challenges Government policy in order to enable better outcomes for young people of today and the future. There has been a shift in better understanding of mental health thanks to these organisations.
“Personally speaking, Young Minds resonates with me because I know first hand how important child and adolescent mental health support services are. There is a lot to deal with growing up and if there aren’t strong support systems in place, then children face challenging emotional difficulties moving forwards with their lives. Fortunately organisations like Young Minds support those children and their parents, so they don’t face emotional difficulties alone.
“Some people may see not completing the event as a failure but I’m proud of myself for completing the bike leg in such adverse conditions. There were a lot of people dropping out early on due to the poor conditions. It was scary on the roads at times, no bones about it.
“I learnt a lot out there, mostly about perseverance no matter how much you are hurting. I would consider taking on such an event again, but for now I’m going to have a good rest!”
For more information about Young Minds, visit www.youngminds.org.uk/about-us/our-mission/ and you can still donate by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jack-harrington1
