Chester RUFC First XV coach Guy Ford battled Storm Babet during a gruelling 114-mile 2,500 metre elevation run to raise money for two charities.
Guy, who ran from the rugby club in Chester to Abersoch in North Wales in an impressive 32.5 hours, has raised over £20,000 to date.
The money will be split between The Christie Charity and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, a charity committed to funding research to find effective treatments to Motor Neuron Disease. In June 2017, rugby player Doddie Weir OBE, one of the sport’s most recognised personalities, revealed he was suffering from the disease. He died in November 2022.
Guy said: “The whole run was spent running through some of the worst rain we have had over the last few years. We had to run an extra 10 miles in order to avoid floors and coastal paths that were under water near Rhyl and Colwyn Bay.
“I couldn’t have done it without my brilliant support team of runners and vehicles and the many car drivers going past and offering me words of encouragement.
“I had fifteen different people join me at various stages of the run, all joining me for 3/4 mile up to 32 miles and I wouldn’t have finished it without their support, especially during the horrendous weather that we encountered that weekend.
“I also had amazing support, messages and donations to help to keep me motivated when the going got very tough, near the end when I was struggling quite badly with blisters on my feet.
“My feet are recovering slowly following a couple of trips to hospital. I’m not quite fit enough to contemplate another challenge yet but I’m sure there will be one in time.
“I set out to raise a target of £5,000 and I’m completely blown away by the amount of money that was raised. My JustGiving page has
smashed that target by over 400%, far surpassing all my ambitions.
“I have supported the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation for a number of years and, along with thousands of other people, I was inspired by Doddie himself when falling in love with the game of rugby. Both codes of rugby, and many other walks of life, have been rocked by the horrendous disease that is MND and the more support we can offer the better.
“I also wanted to support The Christie Charity because as a family we have seen first hand what a huge difference they make to the care and treatment it can provide to patients and their families.”
