National Trails UK’s Post

✨Celebrating 50 Days to Tour 21: Gearing Up for a Cause!✨ With just 50 days remaining until The Tour 21 for Cure Leukaemia, the excitement and anticipation are palpable. As we approach this pivotal moment, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the journey so far and the impactful path ahead. ♦️ Journey of Preparation Over the last several weeks, my training has intensified, involving early morning rides, strategic nutrition planning, and crucial recovery periods. Each pedal stroke is a reminder of the mission we are on—to support groundbreaking research and treatments for leukaemia. 🚴♂️ It has been 113 days since I first rode a road bike, and in my training, I have ridden over 3,000 miles/ 4828 km and 155,000 ft/ 47,244 m of elevation. ♦️ Community and Support The support from friends, family, and sponsors has been overwhelming. From fundraising events to social media shares, every gesture adds strength to our cause. This collective effort is not just about cycling; it's about making a tangible difference in the lives of those affected by leukaemia. Wattbike | ELYSTAN STREET | AB Sports Nutrition | Ribble Cycles ♦️ Final Push and Call to Action As we count down these 50 days, let's amplify our efforts. I encourage everyone to engage with our campaign—whether by spreading the word, contributing financially, or simply sending encouraging messages. Every action propels us closer to our goal to raise £1M for Cure Leukaemia. 🙏 Looking Forward The road to The Tour 21 is about more than endurance—it’s about hope, resilience, and community. Let's use this time to inspire and motivate one another as we head towards the starting line with one shared vision: a future free from leukaemia. Let’s keep the momentum going and make these days count. Join me in turning hope into action as we pedal towards a cure. ➡️ Fundraising Event, May 16th in London: https://lnkd.in/ec75MrY9 ➡️ Donate: https://lnkd.in/e6SavJ7z My fellow riders: Neil Jackson | Keith Knowles | Jonathan Z. | Mark Jackson | Thomas Roberts | Tudor Tamas | Andrew Lowrie | Liam Mahoney | Steve Gibbins #Tour21 #50DaysToGo #CyclingForACause #CureLeukaemia #CountdownToChange #CommunityStrength #RideWithPurpose

DAY 17 Recap. Another testing day. The good side first as I was moving better with my body. There were no niggles. I felt like I was moving a little bit better, a little bit lighter. However, the stomach issues really put me to the test today. I think mentally, around the 60K mark, I felt like I was done. But it was just another day that I had to really grind out. It’s hard when your body is literally eating itself every single day because you’re trying to replace big calories lost from the previous day, big energy, I should say, so an estimated 10,000 active calories are burned every single day. When you’re feeling nauseous and can’t get food back in, it makes it really challenging. How do you have the energy to run a double marathon when you can’t get food back in? So that was today’s challenge, but thankfully again, I grinded it out. Thanks to the support of my team, who adapted rather than seeing me every 7 km mark, saw me every 5 km. We also had a couple more extra commitments today, which made it obviously very rewarding. It’s what we’re doing it for, in helping make wishes come true with a radio interview on SCN Sydney and 7 news here on the mid. Coast. I felt really grateful that we were able to do that. But obviously it does add a challenge when I’ve also got to do those stops and commitments and bank a double marathon. So another big day. Thanks for your support. I hope you’re enjoying following this journey here. Help us reach the target of 25k donations to @makeawishaust by this Sunday by donating on my link in bio. Distance: 84.8km’s Start: Coolongolook, NSW Finish: Kew, NSW -31.6203920, 152.7267648 Sponsored by: Run the World, Fortem Media, Verde Nutrition Co, Apollo Motorhome Holidays, Kennedy Trailers, Coles Group, Swysh, Dr. Dough, LSKD, Pickawall, Workinc, Solid Foundation Concreting, Health Systems Go #ultrarunner #ultrarunning #runningcommunity

May is National Walking Month 2024, 🚶a campaign to encourage people across all ages and backgrounds to get outside and embrace the simple, yet profound health benefits of walking. This month-long event is the perfect opportunity to explore the great outdoors, improve fitness, and connect with others in a healthy, enjoyable way. National Walking Month is an annual initiative that promotes walking as a free, easy, and accessible form of exercise and transportation. The event encourages individuals, communities, and organizations to host walking challenges, share walking routes, and raise awareness about the health benefits associated with regular walking. Some examples of how to Get Involved but not limited to: Participate in Walking Challenges: Join local or online walking challenges to stay motivated and connect with a community of walkers. Organize Group Walks: Set up walking groups with friends, family, or coworkers to explore local parks, nature trails, or urban walks together. Share Your Walks on Social Media: Use social media to post pictures, routes, and stories from your walks to inspire others to join in. Encourage Walking Meetings: If you work in an office, suggest walking meetings to combine work with physical activity. Support Walking Charities: Engage with charities that promote walking and active lifestyles, either through volunteering or fundraising. #daisyholisticare #inhomehealthcare #mobileconciergeservices #mobileconciergepractice #virtualvisit #nationalwalkingmonth #walking #walkingishealthy

🌊   Ride for the Reef: Every Kilometre Counts for Australia’s Oceans!  🌊 PocketSeed is working with Canopy Blue and Motivate Ultra to launch a cycling initiative that’s more than just a ride—it’s a movement to heal our oceans. Every kilometre you cycle will kelp restoration off the coast of Western Australia thanks to Canopy Blue, supporting biodiversity and ocean health in a critical area. Why Kelp Matters:   Kelp forests act as natural carbon absorbers, transforming CO2 into organic carbon and providing essential habitats in Australia’s Great Southern Reef. This project is more than climate action; it’s a step toward preserving one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems. How to Join:   Participate in Motivate Ultra’s 10-day Charity Spin across nine Perth locations, with every pedal contributing to kelp planting and ocean restoration. You’ll even be able to track your impact in real time! 🚴   Ready to ride for a cause?  Click the link to learn more and join us in making every ride count for the planet: https://lnkd.in/gfDfMUGc Let’s come together to restore our oceans, one Kilometre at a time! 🌍💪    #Sustainability  #ClimateAction  #Cycling  #PocketSeed #Perth

Rowing an ocean, solo and unsupported is challenging at the best of times, but at night...that's when Tom's mettle is really tested. 😯 • On a clear night, with a full moon, the night time is a beautiful place out there. The moon lights up the ocean, and the milky way streaks across the sky like a giant road of stars, whilst shooting stars regularly skim the atmosphere. 🌌🌠 • But since Tom has been rowing, it's been foggy, or at least a cloud-filled sky at night. And this means no light from the suns reflection on the moon. No stars to adorn the sky...and it is absolutely black out there. ⬛ • The only light sources are from the navigation light behind him, and the digital read outs on the outside of the cabin. If he turns those off, it almost feels like being blind - you can't see the end of the oars, and you certainly can't see the big waves coming. 🌊 • Tom relies mostly on his hearing on nights like these to prepare for a big hit from a wave. There is not a great deal he can do, but when he hears the roar of a big wave incoming, he can at least brace for impact. 😱 • Nobody ever thought this was going to be an easy crossing - but it's proving to be even harder than imagined! 😲 • Despite all this - Tom is doing an INCREDIBLE job - he's making brilliant progress and isn't far from clearing the 'Flemish Cap' - the place where the cold Labrador current, connects with the warm waters of the gulf stream. 💪 • Remember, Tom is rowing the Atlantic to raise money and awareness for Mind - please donate to this brilliant cause today at https://lnkd.in/e55nzqnz 🌐 • A huge thank you to all of Tom's sponsors who have helped make this amazing challenge possible: - Gold sponsors: Everlast Gyms Tritax Symmetry - Silver sponsors: VW&S Group BOOM POWER - Bronze sponsors: Immobilier du Pont - Le Châble Hotel Farinet Verbier • #mindoarmatter #atlanticrow #atlantic #oceanrow #mind #mindcharity #mentalhealth

The scale of the global food waste problem is staggering: 🔴 33% of all food produced is wasted every year. That translates to $1.2 trillion worth of food annually. 🔴 Almost 50% of all fruits and vegetable produced is wasted every year globally which is equivalent to about 3.7 trillion apples. And as if those stats weren't shocking enough... 🔴 If 25% of the food currently lost or wasted were saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people. So today, on Stop Food Waste Day, please support our chosen charity FareShare UK / FareShare South West to ensure they have the funds they need to redistribute surplus food to charities that turn it into meals. 🚨 Donate here today to stop food waste, make sure people don't go hungry, and support our charity challenge: 👉 https://lnkd.in/efZZ8EkS #StopFoodWasteDay #FightHunger #CharityChallenge #ZeroWaste

Yesterday, over 50,000 people ran the London Marathon After months of training and mindboggling commitment, they pushed themselves to the absolute limit and achieved something really amazing. What if that effort had gone towards defending life on Earth?   I have incredible respect for marathon runners, I couldn’t do it. They have achieved something really fantastic, and I salute them - they are a testament to the power of human will But we’re deep in a planetary emergency and that means society has to reconsider its priorities Many people say they don’t take part in climate action because they just can’t find the time in their busy lives. Yet many marathon runners are overworked professionals with young families, and they still found time to train because they made it a personal priority Many ran as a way to make the world a better place, to raise money for their important causes. It's a wonderful commitment, thank you. But what if those hundreds of hours of training instead went to confronting the power structures that make their cause necessary in the first place? I worry about what this says about our sense of agency. Folk seem to feel the only way to make a difference is to raise money for charities and campaigners. We feel it’s the job of others to make the world better, so we leave it to the professionals (like most of my network here) and support them with cash   But that model is failing. Charities and campaigners can’t do it on their own, not even with unlimited budgets. Leaving action to others is why we’re in an emergency in the first place To get out of this we need to reach social tipping points, when momentum towards change becomes unstoppable. To reach it, we need everyone to get involved, and make climate action every bit as much of a personal mission as running a marathon is Many runners feel real elation - it's part sense of achievement & part runner’s high, but often it seems more than that. It seems also to come from having had a real sense of purpose. A deep satisfaction from committing oneself to something bigger than our day-to-day grind Well there’s no greater sense of purpose to be had than coming together with your fellow humans to fight for a better future & the survival of all we love. It’s not a struggle with a clear end point like a marathon, but you get more than a PB and a medal You get to know you tried

Tom's journey is not normal... 🤔 • Anyone that rows any ocean has probably been told they're not normal quite a few times, but Tom's is not normal, even by ocean rowing standards. 😯 • The normal way to row the Atlantic is from east to west. There are organised events that take place each year and they start from the Canary Islands, and land in the Caribbean. That's because the route between those two islands, although long, follows the trade winds and the general oceanic currents. They're also fairly predictable conditions. It doesn't make it easy - anyone that rows any ocean is doing something absolutely INSANE, but that's the 'normal' way. 👍 • Tom, being very much 'not normal' (sorry Tom!) decided that doing it the normal way wasn't a challenge enough, so he's rowing the opposite way; west to east. And whilst he is following the general winds and currents available at this latitude, it is MUCH colder, the conditions are MUCH less reliable, the seas are often MUCH more challenging, and added to that, it can really only be done during hurricane season!! 🌀 • Whilst Tom's videos have included a lot of laughter, it CANNOT be overstated how difficult this crossing is. There have been been over 200 successful solo rows across the Atlantic from east to west, compare that with less than 20 hardy individuals that have completed the crossing in a rowing boat from west to east! 🤯 • No doubt about it, Tom is being put through his paces out there - keep following this incredible journey as it unfolds! 💙 • Remember, Tom is rowing the Atlantic to raise money and awareness for Mind - please donate to this brilliant cause today at https://lnkd.in/e55nzqnz 🌐 • A huge thank you to all of Tom's sponsors who have helped make this amazing challenge possible: - Gold sponsors: Everlast Gyms Tritax Symmetry - Silver sponsors: VW&S Group BOOM POWER - Bronze sponsors: Immobilier du Pont - Le Châble Hotel Farinet Verbier • #mindoarmatter #atlanticrow #atlantic #oceanrow #mind #mindcharity #mentalhealth

Why we should challenge ourselves - Reflection Eleven miles is an incredibly long way to swim, and six and a half hours is an awfully long time to be in a lake, but I completed one of my biggest endurance challenges so far and swam in the Aquasphere Chillswim Windermere 11 miles end-to-end 2024. It was much tougher, physically and psychologically, than I had imagined, and I had to call on some very deep reserves to get to the finish line. It will probably take some time to process all that I have learnt and how this will shape the things I do next, however here are my initial reflections: • The experience of twelve months of training is just as important as the final event. • It doesn’t matter how well you prepare, there is always more that you could have done, so you have to be flexible and adapt to changes on the day. • When the going gets really tough, remember why you are doing it and take one small step forward at a time. • And finally, challenges help us to grow and feel more alive, and what we think might not be possible might just turn out to be a self-limiting belief. The really good news is that with the generous donations of many friends and the Beeleigh Abbey Lodge, I have raised enough money so far to plant approximately 300 saplings as part of the National Trust ‘Plant 20 million trees by 2030’ appeal. Trees do so much to improve our lives. They are home to thousands of species of wildlife; they help to purify the air by taking in carbon dioxide and providing us with oxygen, and being in nature is essential for our mental health and wellbeing. We can all do something positive to leave the world in a better place for future generations. If anyone would like to donate, please use this link to my JustGiving page https://lnkd.in/eQE-F2d2 Image credits: @Chillswim.com @uk.Aquasphereswim.com @mickhall-photos.com If you would like to swim Coniston, Ullswater and/or Windermere in 2025 check out Chillswim.com. #Coaching #mindset National Trust Ana Smith Steve Smith Technology Wellbeing Ltd #climatechange