Four friends decided to take on the mammoth Yellowhammer 100k challenge to raise money for Rockinghorse.
Jay Nock along with his friends Teresa, Adam and Paul trained for over six months as a team to take on the arduous 100k Yellowhammer challenge, raising over £1,200!
The aim is to run, jog or walk at least 100km in less than one day over the South Downs. Not only do the teams have to finish the distance in 24 hours but they also need to navigate their route themselves, they have to supply their own support crew and there are no marshals or timekeepers to help – you’re essentially on your own!
But none of this put the friends off their goal. They planned their route from Petersfield to Newhaven, with Jay’s wife driving the support vehicle and making sure the team had enough water and supplies every 10km.
The self-named Dirty Mudder Funkers set up a Facebook page for all their friends and family to follow their training and the challenge. They created a poll of four local charities to support and their supporters chose Rockinghorse Children’s Charity.
Jay explains more: “One of the guys who I worked with asked if I was interested in doing the yellowhammer hammer challenge and I jumped at the chance to challenge myself. Then we just needed to find two others to do the challenge with us. It took some convincing but eventually Adam agreed to join us!
“In the lead up to the challenge we did many training runs, and on the day we at 4 am after very little sleep. Luckily the weather was really good but covering 100km in under 20 hours takes a lot out of your body, even more so when it’s done over undulating countryside like the South Downs way.
“Adam suffered bad blisters to his feet and Theresa injured her knee and calf and unfortunately had to pull out at the 70km mark. Adam and I continued but at the 90km I made the decision to stop after fracturing my right big toe and sustaining a knee injury. But Adam pushed on and finished in 21 hours.
“After challenge all of us felt tired and ached lot, we were pleased with our achievements and the amount that we had raised for the Rockinghorse charity.”
Lucy Pond, Challenge Fundraising Manager at Rockinghorse added: “It was a pleasure working with Jay and his team. They were completely self-motivated and surprisingly ‘enjoyed’ the challenge despite only having two hours sleep. And they had a great method of fundraising, asking their supporters to choose the charity to support. Thanks to Jay, Adam Teresa and Paul for all their support.”
If you would like to donate to the Dirty Mudder Funkers, head over to their Just Giving page here.
