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The ultra-marathon man
S
everal years ago Mike Crawley and
Mike Inkster hatched a plan; to run
3,000 miles around the coast of
Britain to raise money for BLESMA.
They would each cover 30 miles every 24
hours for the duration of the challenge –
50 days in all. Not bad for two 66 year olds!
After two years of planning and just one
month before their scheduled start in May
Mike Inkster was told he needed urgent
surgery and had to pull out of the run. Mike
Crawley changed the route and doubled his
efforts, deciding to cover 3,275 miles in 100
days around a course in the Kent Marshes.
As if that wasn’t enough he would tack the
Three Peaks Challenge (climbing the three
highest mountains in Britain – Ben Nevis,
Snowdon and Scafell Pike – one after the
other) onto the end of the run.
Mike began the challenge on 5 May 2013
and, for the next 100 days, ran more than
suggs goes
‘one step beyond’
In 2005 Danny Holmes was involved in an
accident that resulted in him receiving third
degree burns and losing a leg. While he was
in a coma in intensive care, his wife Clare,
played him Madness songs.
“This June we went to see Madness’ front
man Suggs in concert. During the show
I sneaked off, found his manager and asked
if there was any chance a Household Cavalry
veteran could have his picture taken with
Suggs after the show,” recalls Clare. “Suggs
agreed, he and Danny chatted for a little while
and posed for this photo. It made Danny’s
evening – and mine!”
08 www.blesma.org
32 miles every single day. He ran through
torrential rain, fierce winds and blistering
heat but he never gave in.
From the start Mike offered to be a guinea
pig to the research team at Coventry
University looking into the effects of long,
continuous exercise on an ‘older’ person and
the dietary strategy required to keep up that
level of exertion over such a long period. The
team were wonderful and thanks to their
input Mike survived the ordeal.
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