Hopping round Yorkshire's Three Peaks - on stilts

Fundraiser Paul Waugh finds a new way to clamber for charity over miles of rocky northern fells

After the Northerner's last post, about Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies winning the over-50s national title for long-distance off-road running, let's end the day with more Pennine achievements.

Paul Waugh from Brotton in North Yorkshire is celebrating completing the famous Three Peaks route across the summits of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside ? largely on stilts.

The route is challenging enough for mere foot-sloggers, although people also run it, skip it or cartwheel as many sections as they can. But stilts? Yep, 49-year-old Brotton clicked away and was back in around six hours; Mostly stilting, but rain turned some of the steep sections slippery and saw him revert prudently to ordinary, unassisted feet.

He tells Mike Morgan of the Evening Gazette in Middlesborough a little about each peak in turn:

Pen-y-ghent 694m (2,277ft). I've run the Three Peaks before, but this time it was a bit more rocky and, with the rain, was a hard slog up. On top, you couldn't see a thing but as I climbed I passed people coming down who did a double take.

I was going to try and come back down on them, but it was slippery so I
climbed the mountain then ran back down and on to the next.

Whernside 736m (2,414ft). A long climb. They've added steps in places so it was a bit of a chew and I fell for the first time ever flat on my face. I got up and carried on to the top and once again I was up in the cloud. There was drizzle and it was very windy.

Ingleborough 723m (2,372ft). It's a long walk to get to it. I had to climb up a path which is very steep - the steepest of the lot. It's like a cliff face. But then there is a good path I took my time and slowly zig-zagged my way up into the clouds again.

My legs were like jelly on the way down because the stilts are so heavy. Once I made it back to the bottom of Ingleborough, I was over the moon.

Waugh is a carer and has run the Three Peaks route conventionally in the past, He's well-known on Teesside for indefatigable fund-raising on stilts, frequently dressed as a caveman. His Three Peaks outing raised over �500 each for the charities Breast Cancer Research and Daisy Chain, a project that supports children with autism and their families.

The Three Peaks fell race route links the mountains in a 37km (23m) circuit, which the fastest competitors have done in two-and-a-half hours. The conventional walk is a little longer and usually takes the average rambler around 12 hours.

• Yorkshire
• Extreme sports
• Charities
• Charitable giving

Martin Wainwright

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/nov/08/three-peaks-on-stilts-charity-fund-raising

pensions advisory service can i retire pensions calculator ill health retirement the pension service