A dog lover is taking on a 1,000-mile run described as ‘the holy grail of UK adventures’ in a bid to raise more than £10,000 for Dogs Trust.
Annie Rawlinson, who celebrated her 60th birthday in March, has already tackled other challenges to raise money for the charity’s rescue dogs – including the London Marathon. But the Rat Race Adventures Run Britannia, which gets underway on 1 June, is “her toughest yet”. Annie’s race will start at Lands End, and will finish on 5 July at John O’Groats.
“Unlike the marathon, it is mainly off-road and takes in a climb overall of 70,000 plus feet”
Annie says, “About three years ago, I was looking for a suitable challenge I could train for to mark my 60th year and read about this. Now, here we are! Its’ going to be an incredible adventure, but I can’t really imagine what it’s going to take to complete it as I’ve never done anything like it before.
“Unlike the marathon, it is mainly off-road and takes in a climb overall of 70,000 plus feet. The route is along some of the most beautiful trails in the UK, but I’m not sure I’ll have the time or energy to appreciate them!
“As a diversion during training I’ve been counting the number of dogs I meet or spot and so far that’s an incredible 1,909! I’ll be keeping up my canine count during the run too which will definitely spur me on!”
The race is 1,000 miles over five weeks, across hill, mountain, moor and valley. The route includes major sections of the South West Coast Path, Offa’s Dyke crossing into Wales and, in Scotland, all 95 miles of the West Highland Way.
Dogs Trust stated, “Annie’s previous challenges have raised £2,500 for Dogs Trust and her additional motivation, as well as the many four-legged friends she is helping, is that she always runs in memory of her cousin’s husband, Brian Coulthwaite.
“Brian, who was the landlord of the Watermill Inn & Windermere Brewery in Ings, near Windermere was a dog lover and supporter of Dogs Trust before he sadly died in March 2019. As he too would have been celebrating his 60th in September this year, it’s even more poignant for Annie.”
You can help Annie support dogs on
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