Ultimate Coast to Coast - The End in Sight

Rob Howard / 01.11.2005

For the last 10 days Barry Matthews and Gary Jolliffe, the intrepid duo who run endurancelife, have been attempting the ‘Ultimate Coast to Coast’ – an endurance challenge they dreamt up as a charity fundraiser.

The challenge was to cycle from John O’Groats to Lands End, scale Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon AND kayak the length of Loch Lomond, Lake Windermere and Lake Bala, non stop as quickly as possible.

And they are on the final stages right now after cycling 1100 miles, trekking 24 miles and kayaking 45 miles. That’s the equivalent of cycling three-fifths of the Tour de France, climbing one-third of Mount Everest and kayaking a third of the Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon – non-stop.

The pair have had their ups and downs on the way. On Loch Lomond gale force winds and storms capsized them and forced a retreat, but the weather on Windermere was far more benign. They got lost on the way to Snowdon and finally arrived at the foot of the mountain at 2.30am after cycling over 100 miles, and then got lost again at Pen-y-Bont, where they were heading back north again for a while! But with the mountains and lakes behind them they covered 145 miles on their bikes on day 9, and are now on their way to the finish.

The purpose of this fantastic effort has been to raise money for their chosen charity St Luke's Hospice, and you can donate online, and read their entertaining daily updates on their Ultimate Coast to Coast website.