Padiham St Leonard's CE Primary School headteacher to tackle 200-mile run in south Wales mountains for foodbank

Mrs Beverly Holmes will set out on her attempt to tackle the Wild Horse 200 South Wales – a 200-mile challenge which starts on April 5th.

She will have to finish in 120 hours to complete the run which includes 30,187 feet of climb across parts of Offas Dyke, the Beacons Way and the Heart of Wales Line before joining the Wales Coastal Path to finish at Worm’s Head.

There will be checkpoints at roughly 25-mile intervals, and at three of these she will have the opportunity to sleep. However, any rest stops (including opportunities for sleep) are limited to four hours.

She said: “I’ve completed non-stop races before including the Hardmoors 110 on the Cleveland Way and the Punk Panther Double Loop Nidderdale Way (also 110 miles) but never anything non-stop of this distance. I completed the Dead Water Ultra in 2021 which was 235 miles but that was a staged race over 6 days with time to sleep each night.

“Whilst the race offers the opportunity to view amazing scenery and nature including sun rise and moonlit nights, I imagine I’ll also have times of being wet, cold, mentally and physically exhausted. These times of extremes help to develop a sense of gratitude for all the creature comforts that I am usually blessed with.”

The 54-year-old head added: “Because of that, I’d like to use the opportunity to help those in our community who are suffering through the cost of living crisis and raise money for Padiham Parish Foodbank.

“In early 2021, when the foodbank was establishing itself within the community, we had just a few clients each week. Since then, through both increased need and growing knowledge of the resource, we now serve about 40 to 50 households on a weekly basis.

“Please help to support this by adding a donation to https://gofund.me/a73d3d8a or use the link on Padiham Parish Foodbank Facebook page.”