Thoughts /
June 24, 2024
This past weekend (21-23 June), a group of 38 of us gathered in Willingham, Cambs, to take on the David Goggins 4x4x48 challenge to raise money for a local girl, Catilin Passey, and her family. Caitlin has CLN3 Batten disease, a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder, and the aim is to raise funds to create a safe haven for Caitlin and to help her family give her the environment and experiences she needs.
The challenge was to run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours - a total of 48 miles over the two days. The distance would be a challenge for me (my weekly average is under 20 miles), but on top of that, the timing aspect adds another whole layer of difficulty - muscles seizing up between runs, when and how to eat, hydrate, rest, stretch etc., and having to get up and do runs in the middle of the night. We ran every 4 hours from 10am on the Friday (so there were a couple of 2am runs in there!) and we ran six different courses twice, to keep it varied and interesting.
To make it even more challenging (!), a couple of us decided that 48 miles wasn't quite enough, and we wanted to get the full double-marathon distance of 52.4 miles. To do that, we added an extra 0.4 miles to each run - sometimes we'd deviate from the planned route a little to add some on, and other times we'd do extra short circuits at the base when we got back. I'm pleased to say we ended up doing 52.7 miles over the 48 hours - the equivalent distance of 2 marathons in 2 days.
I found it tough at times, but it was a nice surprise that my body seemed able to cope with it (better than I had expected!). I managed to run all the distance without walking, and without picking up any injuries (not even a blister!) - some very tight and stiff muscles at times, but a lot of stretching and dynamic warm-ups helped, and we had access to sports massage for the whole time (thanks Vicky!).
In the end, it was an unbelievable experience - a real sense of cameraderie and togetherness throughout the whole thing. And what an absolute privilege to be involved in something that makes such a difference to Caitlin and her family.
My individual fundraising pot for this 4x4x48 challenge is still open for a few days - any donations would be incredibly gratefully received and will directly impact Caitlin's quality of life and bring comfort and support to her and her family. Thank you.
My 4x4x48 fundraising pot
https://app.collectionpot.com/pot/3218225
Caitlin's story
http://www.bdfa-uk.org.uk/caitlins-story/
The SafeHaven4Caitlin Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/p/SafeHaven4Caitlin-100083028024040/
The main fundraising page
https://www.gofundme.com/f/SafeHaven4Caitlin
June 24, 2024
© Mike Taylor 2024
