The National Three Peaks Challenge

16 November 2015November 16, 2015James GilleyRunspiration

I love a good challenge that pushes the mind and body to its limits, especially if I’m doing it with others which can make it far more interesting. With the 2015 winter on its way, I had the urge to get one last adventure out the system, and found three others crazy enough to follow me up the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales, to do what is known as the Three Peaks Challenge. The catch is to complete this ask within 24 hours!

As further motivation to keep us going through the night and by way of justifying us doing this in November, the event was dedicated to The Running Charity. However, we hadn’t expected the weather to provide a mountain of hurdles, all of its own, along the way.

It always seems impossible until it’s done

24 September 2015September 24, 2015James GilleyRunspiration

On September 24th 2012, we began the first day of our pilot programme after eight months of researching and three months of planning. I woke up extremely nervous with so many questions rushing through my mind, much like before a race or a very important pitch – have we done enough, are we prepared, did we forget anything? I remember it as if it was yesterday. The emotions swung from one end of the spectrum to the other. There was no more time for preparation and no turning back.

The Running Charity member and fundraiser

Running is powerful beyond measure

1 May 2015May 13, 2015James GilleyRunspiration

“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it” – Oprah Winfrey.

Eighteen months before The Running Charity (TRC) was founded back in 2012, a close friend had passed away from a heroin overdose, at which point I left my degree in order to find the answers to all the questions in my head. I began researching drug addiction and homelessness and at the same time I turned to running as my salvation in search of clarity and self-affirmation. It was not until a year later that these two worlds came together in any kind of tangible way.