After starting off with a 5K Parkrun in 2017, and progressing to my first 10K run earlier this year to climbing Snowdon over the summer I have decided to really ramp things up in 2019.

Over the year, I will be attempting to hike and run 1000 miles over the course of the year with a major challenge in the middle of the year. During the last week of May and first week of June I will be heading off on my biggest challenge so far and hiking the 192 plus miles of the Wainwright Coast to Coast trail. This winds it’s way across the country from West to East, starting at St Bees on the Irish sea, crossing the Lake District, the Pennines and finally the North Yorkshire Moors before finishing in Robin Hoods Bay and the North Sea. All of this will be done over 15 days.

While on the walk, I’ll be climbing from sea level at the start and finish up to Kidsty Pike at 780 m (2,560 ft). All in all I’ll be climbing 10002 metres (32816ft or 6.2 miles) which coincidently is the same distance as the 10K runs I’ve done this year.

By all accounts, the Coast to Coast Walk looks like an amazing route that will take in some amazing and varied landscape. From hard climbs at the beginning with stunning views over the Lake District to the more gentle (although longest) day from Richmond to Ingleby Arncliffe to the rugged and sometimes desolate landscape of the North Yorkshire Moors it offers a variety of challenges.

Of course, there is a reason for all of this apart from the walk being an amazing challenge, and this is to raise both money and awareness of heart failure. Over 900,000 people in the UK live with heart failure, some like me live quite well and are able to do most things, while others unfortunately find themselves severely limited in what they can do. I’m one of the lucky ones that I have been able to go from extremely ill to being very active so I feel it’s important to take every opportunity to do the things I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

As usual, I’m fundraising again for Pumping Marvellous, the patient led heart failure charity that offers so much support to those living with heart failure. I can’t describe how much support I’ve personally had from Pumping Marvellous. They have given me information on my condition and opened up so many opportunities to be involved in events to help raise awareness of heart failure. Pumping Marvellous are yet another faceless charity run by people that are detached from the realities of living with the condition, but are instead a group of people who in the main are directly affected by heart failure. We are extremely lucky to have an organisation out there truly looking out for our interests, even affecting governmental policy and NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidelines that recommend how medical professionals should treat and care for their patients.

I am hoping that you will be able to help me and get involved with me on the Coast to Coast. Of course, any donations you can make will be hugely appreciated (you can donate over at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/1000-miles-in-2019-coast-to-coast) but you can also become more actively involved by joining me on one of more of the sections of the walk. Details of each stage, including maps of the route, elevation details (so you know what you are getting yourself into) and the accommodation I’ve booked for myself are on the individual stage pages which you can find listed at http://pouringoutmyheart.uk/Coast-To-Coast

You can also help by sharing this wide and far. I’ve set up a Twitter account where I’ll start posting details and information so please do follow @pouringoutheart for the latest updates.