Charity fundraiser, 76, set to repeat coastal challenge - in reverse
A 76-year-old veteran fundraiser is getting ready to take on a wild camping trek along the south of the country for the second time.
Alan Peace is gearing up to complete a second 630-mile challenge along the South West Coast Walk after raising more than £50,000 for Cancer Research UK.
The Wombourne parish councillor smashed his ambitious fundraising target after battling gale force winds to complete the South West Coast Walk between Minehead in Somerset and Poole in Dorset.
Now he’s ready to take on the challenge in reverse and raise a further £10,000 for research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
He said: "“The views will be different this time because I’ll be facing the opposite way.
"It’s not the usual way people do it and it will probably be harder because some of the most difficult parts are on the North Devon Coast right at the end."
Mr Peace, a Cancer Research UK ambassador who has been a mountaineer for over 60 years, began fundraising in 2004 in memory of his late wife, Joan, who died of breast cancer.
He’s climbed some of the world’s highest peaks including Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina and Elbrus in Russia.
But his first South West Coast Path challenge had to be completed in short bursts over five years due to a hip replacement operation in 2016.
The minor setback didn’t stop him completing the mammoth trek in one go over 51 days last summer, despite battling horizontal rain and gale force winds during the first week.
Mr Peace, who was greeted at the finish line in 2021 by his wife, Debbie, and his four-year-old grandson, Ralph, said it was the toughest challenge he'd ever done.
He said: "It involves over 115,000 feet of ascent and descent which is the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest four times.
"During the first leg I was never dry and had to pack up a wet tent every day and carry the increased weight of it in my backpack.
"It was relentless but I met some fascinating and very generous people who helped keep my spirits up.
"Due to the conditions I had to take two days out, so I’m hoping I can complete this walk in under 50 days. But it’s a massive undertaking so I won’t be racing because I want to enjoy it."
Mr Peace will set off from Sandbanks on Poole Harbour in Dorset, on April 21, and hopes to reach Minehead, in Somerset, during the first week of June.
To sponsor Mr Peace, go to fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/alans-giving-page-182
