Matt's 95 mile West Highland Way Race 2017
Matthew Perkins
24th June 2017
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Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
My sister-in-law, Anita Salt spent a large part of her adult life fighting ovarian cancer and sadly passed away on 1st July 2013 at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, England. She received amazing treatment and care at the Christie for many years and we do our little bit to fund-raise in her memory.
On 24th June 2017, I will be participating in the West Highland Way Race (https://westhighlandwayrace.org/) attempting to run the 95 mile West Highland Way, long distance footpath, from Glasgow to Fort William in a single day.
Anita loved the West Coast of Scotland and spent many happy times there. I have been running marathons for a few years and have completed a couple of ultra-marathons (up to 50 miles) so have decided to really challenge myself to see if I can run in a day the hiking trail that Kate and I walked in a week!!
Please consider contributing to my fund-raising effort so that others can receive even better care and treatment than Anita did, whilst science seeks better treatment and a cure for cancer.
Thank you for any contributions you make in Anita's memory, large or small. We, and the Christie, appreciate anything you can give.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Updates
Matthew Perkins
26th June 2017June 25th
Thank you so much for your support and generosity for such a great cause.
Having set out with a goal to raise £2,000, I am amazed and overwhelmed that I have been able to help contribute £3,800 (and still rising) to enable the Christie to continue their amazing work. This has taken Anita's Hope Fund to almost £12,000 as we approach the 4th anniversary of her passing.
The thought of what this money can achieve and all the kind messages of support were a great motivation during the challenge.
Thank you!!
Matthew Perkins
26th June 2017June 24th
Finished!!! In 22 hours 39 minutes. What an amazing experience, filled with many high points and some very low points.
The pre-race niggle in my foot built to a pain over the first 50 miles and the Scottish summer weather of 50mph gusts of wind and horizontal rain didn't ease progress!
By far and away the toughest event I have done. There were many, many times that thoughts of the pain that Anita went through (& others have to live with) helped me push through my temporary discomfort.
Matthew Perkins
22nd June 2017June 22nd
Last 3 mile run complete!
If anyone is interested in following my progress on Saturday, there are a couple of options. (I'm runner 156)
The official race tracking will show my time at each of the check points: http://track.sportident.co.uk/WHW17
I will be carrying a GPS tracker which will show my progress along the route in real time. This can be accessed at: http://racedrone.net/event/west-highland-way-race
Timing updates and hopefully progress updates from my support team will appear on my Twitter feed: @mjp396
Matthew Perkins
21st June 2017June 20th
Penultimate training run, 5 miles of trail running on Corstorphine Hill in Edinburgh with three quarters of the support team!! Lovely to be back in Edinburgh after 2.5 years away.
Only 3 more sleeps!! Race preparation tomorrow and Thursday (baking and packing)
Matthew Perkins
12th June 2017June 12th
Thank you so much everyone for the generous donations & messages of support. We've reached the initial fundraising target but will try and get a bit more in the two weeks til race day!
I've backed off the running miles now to allow my body to recover ready for the race, and to iron out a niggle in my foot. It was strange doing a last training run in Rock Creek Park on Saturday morning after so many hours and miles spent running there over the last 6 months.
I suspect I won't be running in 34C heat in Scotland in 2 weeks time!
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017May 28th
Amazing trail running on a trip to Sedona, Arizona. Very different terrain and scenery to what I’ll be running in June!!!
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017May 20th
30 mile trail race in Kettletown State Park, Connecticut today. 5 loops of a 10k course through the hilly woodland surrounding a lake. I finished in 5 hours 3 minutes and managed to win the race! Now onwards to Nashua, New Hampshire to run a slow road marathon tomorrow.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017May 22nd
20 weeks completed. 1,213 miles run to date, 60 miles a week on average.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017May 13th
My second 50 mile training race, this time at North Face Endurance Challenge New York, at Bear Mountain in upstate New York. A much hillier 50 mile course today (7,144ft of ascent and 7,144ft of descent). And a day of solid rain, muddy trails and slippery rocks, running in cloud on the summits. If there were midges as well, this would be perfect training for Scotland in June. I finished in 9 hours 30 minutes and 29th place.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017April 29th
The first of two 50 mile races that I will complete in training (the joint longest I’ll run before the race in June). Today it was the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile race, just outside Washington DC. The 5am start time meant very little sleep which is also good practice for the West Highland Way Race which has a 1 am start time. I finished in 7 hours 59 minutes, coming 8th overall and winning my age group. Very happy with that on a hot and humid DC day - very different to Scotland in June.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017April 24th
16 weeks of training completed. 907 miles run, 56 miles a week on average.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017April 17th
The training program is working. Completed Boston Marathon today in 3:00:57. Almost 5 minutes quicker than my previous personal record.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017April 8th
This weeks long training run is the Runamuck 30 mile race along snowy dirt roads near Woodstock in Vermont. Running in cold snowy conditions, I finished in 4 hours 9 minutes. To give more practice running on tired legs I then drove to Rhode Island and completed the Seabees marathon in 3 hours 17 minutes
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017April 1st
Appropriately for April Fools Day, today’s training run is a 30 mile race called the NUTT run. 10 x 5km loops up and down a mountainside in Virginia. 5,500ft of ascent and 5,500ft of descent is great training for the West Highland Way. I finished in 4 hours 39 minutes in 3rd place!
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017March 27th
12 weeks of training completed. 640 miles run, 53 miles a week on average.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017February 27th
8 weeks of training completed. 370 miles run.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017February 20th
Back to back trail marathons run, seeking some winter sun – Near Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday and Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday. Good to experience running on tired legs.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017January 16th
Week 2 complete. 86 miles run including a long morning run along the river in Pittsburgh. A painful right knee, the result of tight muscles means replacing running miles with cycling miles this week (roughly 3 cycling miles equals one running mile)
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017January 30th
Four weeks training completed. 129 miles run. Knee back to normal.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017January 2nd
The start of my 25 week training program. 41 miles to run in the first week, building to a peak mileage of 80 miles in weeks 17 and 20. I’ve only ever run 80 miles in a week once and that was followed by months of recovery. During 2016 I ran 1,600 miles and averaged 31 a week. If I can stay fit, this program will have me running 1,500 miles in 25 weeks, an average of 60 miles a week.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017January 9th
Week 1 complete. 41 miles including an early morning 16 miles in the dark on Saturday morning before catching a bus to New York and 6 miles in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY on Sunday . I have started working with Terrel Hale at Georgetown Sports Therapy in Washington, DC to keep my body in shape as the mileage increases.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017Despite how insane the race sounds, it is over-subscribed each year so I had to submit an application in November including a details of my running history to demonstrate that I had run a 50 mile race in the last 12 months and had enough experience to give me a chance of finishing in the time allowed.
Applications were sifted and those meeting the minimum criteria were placed in a ballot. I was one of the lucky (?) ones to be selected to run the race in 2017.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017The West Highland Way Race is one of the world’s longest established ultra-marathons, first taking place in 1985 on the long distance trail between Milngavie (just north of Glasgow) and Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. 2017 will see the 33rd running of this great race. Runners start from Milngavie railway station at 1 a.m. on the last Saturday in June and have up to 36 hours to run the 95 mile length of the trail, along Loch Lomond, over Rannoch Moor, through Glencoe to Fort William. The walk is usually takes a week with overnight stops.
Matthew Perkins
4th June 2017Anita was a beautiful, brave and courageous young woman who lost her long battle with ovarian cancer on 1st July 2013 at The Christie Hospital, aged 35.
Anita was the strongest, bravest person we'll know. She handled everything she went through with dignity, courage and humour. Her outlook on life was always positive. Even though she faced Cancer head on, it never defined her and she would always be busy thinking about other people. She was so caring, selfless and a true inspiration to others.