Day 4 - Alan and Tom

First of the peaks today - looked forward to it hugely. Would mean no more struggling for mile after mile up hills on a bike, oh boy were the legs relieved about that.

So, mountain to climb - must mean a mountaineers breakfast then !  Had a couple of Weetabix but then the full fry up. How good did that taste, it went down a treat. Trouble is, that's a lousy breakfast to cycle on as I found on the quick 9 mile jaunt to the car park. Have you ever cycled up hill for a couple of miles with a lead brick in your stomach - bad move !

By just after 9 I was on the hill and already soaked - it was one of those days when I was either walking in cloud (so wet) or walking in rain (so a bit less wet). Part way up the Miners' Track though I met Alan and Tom - they are what this whole thing is about.

I could see in the distance at one point, 2 people ahead of me. I seemed to be catching them quite quickly - man I must be fit I thought. Not exactly the case.
Tom was walking beside his mate Alan, just keeping pace with him and encouraging him. It turns out that he had been up Snowdon 5 times before and had still yet to see any views at the summit (kind of know how he feels). Alan on the other hand had only been up once before in about 2005 but he (Alan) was now training to do the three peaks himself. All he wanted to do today was to get to the top so he knew he could do it, he was then hoping to get the train down again.

We carried on chatting for a few minutes about what Alan had done in the past as he had been extremely active and talked about triathlons and stuff. After 4 or 5 minutes I said cheerio to them and cracked on up the hill. During this whole time we had only moved relatively few paces because Alan was attempting Snowdon for the first time on prosthetic lower legs. When he was in Iraq with The Welsh Guards he lost both legs below the knee when a roadside bomb went off.

If ever a reminder was needed - that was it. Alan's not after sympathy or handouts, he's got more guts and determination than I or indeed most of us. He wants assistance so he can be himself, practical stuff like what his mate Tom was doing. So if you haven't yet, PLEASE donate / sponsor.

Thank you.