Cowes man Dave Lewis has amply demonstrated that being 50 is no barrier to completing one of Europe’s most difficult trails.
Keen to show he is by no means ‘over the hill’, last weekend Dave took on not one but many hills in the Lake District. covering a total of 50 miles. And he did this comfortably within the 24 hour time limit, taking 17 hours 59 minutes.
Dave, who is a berthing master with Cowes Harbour Authority, undertook The Lakeland 50 to raise money for the RNLI for whom he is a volunteer deputy launch officer at Cowes Lifeboat Station.
Of the 618 people who started out on the gruelling event over 100 found the going too tough and dropped out before the finish on Sunday. He ran for most of the time but occasionally walked, especially during the night when all he had to see where he was going over the rough terrain was a torch on his head.
Dave, from Milton Road, said:
“It was a hell of a challenge, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“There was the occasion when I lost my footing while scrambling over the rocks and fell over, and by the end I had one great big blister on a foot. But I still enjoyed the event, made more gratifying with the number of refreshment stops on the way.
“And although I was quite pleased with my time, considering how steep some of the hills were, I was amazed how fit and fresh some of the other finishers looked.”
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Waiting to give him a loud cheer at the finish at Lake Coniston around 05:00 on Sunday was wife Helen and Northwood-based father-in-law and mother Hugh and Ann Rowbotham, all of whom he had kept informed en route by text.
Anyone wanting to sponsor is asked to do so through https://www.justgiving.com/dave-lewis50/ or text Tral 50 to 70070.
