Walking 166.4km (over 100 miles) nonstop & unsupported – Max Lebmeier & Mike Willerton.
The Since 1664 Yomp is a unique charity endurance challenge preliminary in support of RMA – The Royal Marines Charity.
It follows the South Downs National Park, from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne on the south coast, along the South Downs way (but with a few detours) over a full 166.4km. The climb (ascent and descent) along the way is equivalent to 40% of the height of Mount Everest.
The Since 1664 Yomp has been going for several years, however, the event got cancelled due to Covid related dropouts in 2022. Two of our dedicated fundraisers agreed that they didn’t want to put their training to waste, completing the challenge unsupported, carrying approximately 25 pounds of kit each.
Max Lebmeier & Mike Willerton arrived at their starting point, the king of King Alfred in Winchester at early morning, allowing them plenty of daylight hours before the next day. They wrote a short blog on their fundraising efforts:
“We made good progress along the route with regular short breaks every 10 to 15 miles and longer breaks of about 30 minutes for meals, i.e., lunch, dinner, breakfast, and lunch again, and personal administration. We also restocked water wherever possible.”
We made good progress along the route with regular short breaks every 10 to 15 miles and longer breaks of about30 minutes for meals, i.e., lunch, dinner, breakfast, and lunch again, and personal administration. We also restocked water wherever possible.
Daytime walking was easy, but nighttime slowed us down especially as one of us developed muscle aches and we only regained our pace the next morning after restocking on electrolytes and some painkillers.
As the day progressed, we advanced along the South Downs towards Eastbourne where we arrived after darkness descended again once more.
It was a long build-up since agreeing to do it about a year ago, but we have done it. We are happy we’ve done it and will do it again.”
There’s still a chance to donate to the via their JustGiving pages:
- Max: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maximilian-lebmeier
- Mike: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mike-willerton
Take part in the next Since 1664 Yomp
The Yomp is an opportunity to push yourself to the limits and in some cases almost beyond, really finding out just how far you can go – Are you Tough Enough? – and you do this while raising vital funds for charity.
Max and Mike have committed already to next year. Why not join them?
Learn more here at https://since1664.com/