Meet the team - Ed swift
Hi, I'm Ed, one of John’s three brothers. There are six of us in the family, four brothers and two sisters, all now well over 50 years of age. Most of us have done a bit a bit of running, but only John has taken it beyond the point where reason fades and obsession threatens to bloom. Guess I must rate second in the “overdoing it“ stakes, as I’m currently in Spain for the Madrid marathon which will be my 56th full marathon.
John and I are fiercely competitive in individual races, where he, despite his extra 7 years, invariably has the upper hand on the road, whereas I tend to have the edge in fell races.
However, over the years we have worked well together on the long challenge events such as the Bob Graham Round (72 miles and 42 Lakeland peaks) and the shorter (a mere 42 miles) Joss Naylor challenge, where we supported each other, on our individual completions.
One particular event that gave us both a lot of satisfaction was the Old County Tops, a fell race run in pairs that started at the New Dungeon Ghyll in Great Langdale and visited the highest points in the old Lakeland counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and Lancashire (Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Coniston Old Man). In the early/mid 1990’s John and I twice won the award for the fastest pair with a combined age of over 100.
John’s upcoming challenge offers him the opportunity for further excesses on his beloved fells, and I’m sure that the team will have a fine long day out. In addition, with your help, we can raise some funds for those that have suffered more that a few blisters and aching joints for their country.
The picture above was taken at the end of my Joss Naylor Traverse, when I had run from Pooley Bridge in the north east Lakes to Greendale Bridge in the south west, over 30 Lakeland tops in just under 18 hours. I’m the one in the silly Tshirt in the middle, John’s the one on the left, and most of the others will be out in support on the 28th of May.
My role on the day will be to provide road support, carry John's kit for parts of the run, ensure he's eating and drinking sensibly, keep an eye on the pace (not so fast as to blow up, but not so slow as to get too much behind schedule) and generally jolly things along. I'm not allowed to be involved in the navigating as I get confused over which end of the compass points east, or is that west?
Profiles of other team members will follow.
