66Challenge hits St Albans today

If you’re thinking of pounding the streets tonight or taking a jog around the park, spare a thought for Andy McMenemy, who is running an ultra-marathon (50km) in St Albans today. But this isn’t simply a gruelling one-off 50km run; Andy is trying to establish a new Guinness World Record to run 66 consecutive ultra-marathons, in each of the 66 official UK cities, in 66 days.

Andy is the son of a former soldier and has taken on the challenge in support of ABF The Soldier’s Charity, for which he aims to raise £1million to support soldiers and their families in times of need. The Challenge66 website suggests that he has currently raised a little under £17,000.

Andy, whose day job involves inspiring and mentoring individuals and sales teams, started his ultra-marathon quest in Leeds on Wednesday 16th March and is following a route running an ultra-marathon in all the official cities in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. He set off from St Albnas’ Verulanium Park this morning in the sunshine and has probably received a soaking since, but that is probably the least of his concerns. Andy will continue to run this epic route with no rest days and is due to complete the final ultra-marathon leg in York on Friday May 20th 2011.

Assisting Andy in the planning of this event is Barry Groves, a man with a 27 year history in the military. Barry brings considerable experience in logistics and administration to the challenge, as well as the strong belief that servicemen should be supported from cradle to grave.

The Challenge66 website highlights the plight and huge sacrifices of some of our serviceman in defending our Country and presents a compelling case to give. If you would like to donate to the charity, you can find out how here: http://www.challenge66.org/support_us

Meanwhile good luck to Andy in his challenge, and I hope Barry has plenty of blister plasters at the ready!

Do you know of someone who is taking on a challenge? Share it with us here on Harpenden People.

Photo from Birdies 100 photostream on flickr.