3 MONTHS, 2 MARATHONS, 1 MOUNTAIN AND A WORLD RECORD: CHARLIE MASON’S (S 07-12) CHALLENGE

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Dear family, friends and colleagues,

Over the course of three months this spring, I will be embarking on three challenges in order to raise money for CLIC Sargent, a fantastic charity that supports young people battling cancer.

The first challenge, in late February, was to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania – the highest mountain in Africa standing at 5,895m. Charlie made his to the summit after 5 days of trekking with his sister, Becky, and described the experience as “unforgettable”.

The second challenge is to run the Manchester Marathon in under 3 hours, which was due to take place in early April but has now been postponed until the autumn.

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Colin the Caterpillar

Finally, I’ll be attempting, along with five friends, to break the world record for the fasted six-person costume to run a marathon (London). The current record is a shade under 6 hours. Our 6-man costume was approved by Guinness world records for the record attempt – we will be running as a Colin The Caterpillar. All six of is will be running in one line, which could be quite tricky, and we are probably only going to have one practice session in the outfit in March (which could be very entertaining – get in touch if you would like to come and watch).

About CLIC Sargent
When cancer strikes young lives CLIC Sargent helps families limit the damage cancer causes beyond their health. We provide specialist support, to help and guide each young cancer patient and their family.

Please take a moment to have a look at their website, and donate if you can. The three challenges are self-funded so every penny you donate will go straight to the charity.  Toby Bentley (S 06-11) is the ‘poster boy’ for the charity – CLIC Sargent – after they supported him and he then ran the marathon last year in aid of them.

Thank you!
Charlie Mason (S 07-12)

Click here to see Charlie’s fundraising page and his full story.

Please see below an update on Charlie’s challenge:

Unfortunately, due to the current situation, both the Manchester and London Marathons have been postponed until the autumn, so the three hour and world record attempts are going to have to wait. To avoid all the training going to waste I managed to get a place for the Hampton Court Palace Half at the last minute, and managed to get a PB of 1:20:09 – agonisingly close to the 80 minute mark! I’ll have to restart the training cycle again in the summer, but hopefully that means a better chance of breaking 3 hours.

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