Watoto: April - Supporters of the Month
Thursday 15th April 2010
Tim and Karen are longstanding supporters of COCO and became involved after Karen ran the Comrades with COCO in 2003. Tim and Karen adopted their first son from Romania and they understand all too well the benefits of funding projects which give children the prospect of a brighter future.
Tim has recently completed the Oner - Jurassic Coast Challenge. The Oner is not an event for the faint hearted! Titled 'the mother of all trail runs' the Jurassic Coast Challenge requires participants to complete 3 marathons in 24 hours along the undulating Dorset Coastal Path.
Tim was one of the 32 people to finish the challenge, from 61 who started! He had to overcome the challenges of running in the mud, at night, roller coaster ascents and descents and navigational errors! To date Tim has raised £2500 for COCO, a significant and impressive achievement.
Tim is not the only running enthusiast, his wife Karen is as Tim describes, 'the long distance specialist' but Tim has completed his fair share of triathlons and marathons. Running provides a means of escape from the demands of daily life and he does a lot of thinking and problem solving whislt out on a run. Taking part in the Oner was a chance to prove to himself that he could complete such a challenge and one that not many others could achieve. When asked about upping the distance from his previous longest of 40 miles, he said "One thing leads to another - when you've mastered Grade 4 piano, you move on to Grade 5!"
Reflecting on the event Tim said:
"The coastline is beautiful, especially when navigating by moonlight. It was a mix of fantastic distraction and torture. Apart from refuelling at checkpoints along the 78.6 mile (and a 40 minute delay by HM Coastguard concerned about weather conditions on the cliffs on the last 7 mile stretch) it was non-stop from Lyme Regis to Poole, taking in the whole of Portland, where I got lost for an hour in the mist. Driving to the office the next day was interesting and going down stairs was challenging for several days afterwards! Most importantly, my mission has been accomplished and I know that the money raised is going to a good cause."
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