My Inspiration, and why I do what I do…

Everyone in life has an inspiration, someone who drives you to get out of bed and want to become the best that you can be. Someone who you aspire to emulate and encapsulate. Be this a parent, a friend, a teacher, or even a celebrity. For me my biggest inspiration has always been my Grandad. Everyone in life has an inspiration, someone who drives you to get out of bed and want to become the best that you can be. Someone who you aspire to emulate and encapsulate. Be this a parent, a friend, a teacher, or even a celebrity. For me my biggest inspiration has always been my Grandad.

Growing up I was ignorant of the norm and assumed that there was nothing out of the ordinary. However as I grew and started to collect information about the rest of society, I realised that having a bag full of gold medals in the airing cupboard as we’d ran out of space to keep them, and seeing my Grandad pictured in magazine articles was not an experience that many people had. I began to appreciate the achievements that culminated in several world final medals and I started understand that when he left on what I naively assumed was a holiday he was actually representing his country at the highest level, and he was winning.

To see my Grandad return without clutching a fistful of Gold, Silver, and Bronze was a rare sight indeed. Undoubtedly these would be draped around my neck whilst we gathered round to watch a slideshow of pictures and videos that told the story of how he came to earn what are now some of my most cherished possessions.

I was awed by the beauty of the places he visited, from the vast expanse of the Australian outback and Uluru where he won his first world medal in the 2001 World Championships in Brisbane, to the bustling streets of Izmir, Turkey for the European Finals back in 2014. I think unbeknownst to me at the time, the first seeds of passion had been sown.

As I grew into my teens, Grandad and I would travel around the UK hiking and climbing some of the best the UK had to offer, including Snowdon, Scafell, and the Yorkshire 3 peaks challenge. By this time I was hooked on the outdoors, but a big part of it for both Grandad and I was that we constantly needed to be searching for the next milestone. Not content with just hiking around the peak district as we had done for so many years of my youth we always enjoyed pushing ourselves, be a little faster, go a little further, finish a little stronger.

This eventually led to Grandad booking his first trip to Everest base camp with a team of his running club friends back in 2009, I was crushed when I was too young to tag along (being only 15) and I remember being so upset when we wished him well at the coach station. Sure enough on his return there were a plethora of photos and videos showcasing the breathtaking sights and sounds. I was determined that I would follow in his footsteps.

Fast forward a few years and to my 18th Birthday, to make up for not getting to go to Nepal back in 2009, Grandad brought me a trip to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro. My excitement levels soared to a level they had not been at since I was a young child opening presents on Christmas morning. Although there were some logistical issues with getting together a group of people to go with, we eventually had the team in place and the flights booked.

Over the next couple of years we also flew out to Peru and completed the Inca Trail, and we booked a return trip to base camp. As Grandad was nearing his 70s he stated that this would be his last big trip and we decided a fitting finale would be to visit the Himalayas as he had done so many years before, this time however I would be by his side.

Sadly just a couple of months before we were due to board the plane to Nepal Grandad became ill with cancer. Slowly it dawned on us that he would not be able to make the trip to base camp and he regrettable withdrew from the team. Although this was a massive blow, we were all confident that he would pull through the treatment and be up and climbing again ready for the following season. This never came to pass, as just a few short weeks later we received a call from the hospital that it was time to go in and say our goodbyes, all forms of treatment had failed and my Grandad who I had always viewed as invincible was about to be stolen away from me.

Once the immediate devastation of the loss had subsided, I decided that I would use the base camp trek as an opportunity to remember my Grandad by doing something great. I shifted my focus towards charity work and raised a deal of money for the organisation that supported both my Grandad and my family through the difficult weeks before and following this tragic event. I also made a parting promise to him that I would carry part of him with me to the tallest summits of every continent. As his legacy was one strewn with Gold, Silver, and Bronze, so mine would be one strewn with summits, pinnacles, and adventure.