Charity Challenge: 66 miles in 33 hours
Our very own Tristan Philpotts (Fuel and Environmental Manager) and Jacob Briley (Service Engineer) are attempting to walk 66 miles in just 33 hours in aid of Cancer Research.
[L-R] Jacob Briley & Tristan Philpotts – our brilliant walkers!
Where did the idea for the challenge come from?
[Tristan] It all started as a random thought in my head. Encourage by Jacob, we wanted a challenge that would push us both mentally and physically. By doing large loops, always crossing past a camp site, we wanted to encourage as many people as possible from IPU to join in.
Anyone is welcome to join us, for any length of time… if they bring double cheeseburgers!
Why did you choose Cancer Research as the charity?
[Tristan] We recently lost one of our much loved colleagues, Dave Hutchings, to cancer. That’s why we’re doing 66 miles. It’s one mile for every year of his life. We have another colleague currently fighting it. We both have friends and family who are affected by it. It’s inescapable. It’s so common. If we can even raise a small amount of money, we’ve done a great thing.
How are you going to keep going? 66 miles with no sleep is very far…
[Tristan] We’ve designed the route so we pass the camp site 4 times. Some of those joining the shorter walk and camping will be keeping us supplied with delicious baked goods. They’re timing a BBQ so we can have some hot food.
I imagine we’ll also be heavily reliant on painkillers, plasters and coffee!
[Jacob] Knowing that we will be joined by other people is hugely motivating too. Fresh conversation is going to be hugely important. We’re extremely thankful to anyone that decides to join us, no matter how long they walk for. I’m quite new to IPU, so it will be lovely to get to know some of my colleagues a lot better. We will have plenty of time to talk!
Are you feeling nervous?
[Tristan] No. I will be closer to the time, but not right now. I just want to be able to complete it. I want everyone to be uninjured and safe, that’s the main thing.
Tell us a little bit about your background…
[Jacob] Tristan is Ex-Army. I’m Ex-Navy. I’m used to being in a warm engine room. Tristan has background with longer distance, endurance challenges. This will be a good challenge for me, I’m really looking forward to it.
[Tristan] I’ve been at IPU now for 4 and a half years. I’m very out of practice! I will look back at this and be very proud of myself. It will be cold! But if I’m cold, then I just need to work harder, walk faster.
[Jacob] I do have visions that if I’m ever struggling, it’s the middle of the night, and Tristan’s old Army voice will reappear, shouting at me to get on with it!
What’s your target?
[Tristan] We have just over 1 month to fundraise. We’d absolutely love to raise £2,000. That would be so amazing. But raising any amount of money will make the cold, long and (probably) wet walk worth it!
So, what’s next?
[Tristan] We’ve got to go bigger next time. We’re thinking the 3 peaks in 24 hours. Maybe Hadrian’s Wall, or Lands End to John O’Groats!
[Jacob] We have a really great group of people here. There’s lots of people that would join.
We’re very proud of Jacob and Tristan for leading the way on this fantastic challenge, as well as the rest of the IPU team for joining in. You can donate to IPU’s 66 in 33 challenge HERE.