Pacing4Pat350

Sgt George Downey ACS

Achance meeting in Oct 21 with the CEO of a local suicide prevention and mental health awareness charity Hectors House, led to my wife, Cindy, & I discussing ways in which we could raise awareness and funds to support the amazing work they do in the community. Hectors House came to be after 18-year old Hector Stringer took his own life in 2011. The coincidental meeting with Lotte Stringer was even more poignant, as my own brother Pat had also taken his own life in 2020 aged just 25 years old.

What was born with the support of the charity is Pacing4Pat350, an epic 350 mile walk from Pat’s birthplace in Glasgow to his resting place in St Neots, Cambs, over 14 days, covering roughly 25 miles per day starting on Sun 24 Jul 22 & finishing on Sat 6 Aug 22.

What ensued on New Year’s day 2022 was the implementation of a training plan to enable us to achieve the physical and mental endurance of completing a marathon a day for a full 2 weeks. Having completed the bucket list London Marathon together in Oct 21, we asked ourselves, “how hard can it be to train, stay motivated and injury free for the next 7 months?” What an open question in such uncertain times.

Jan flew by and we bagged 100km between walking, running and building our strength. Feb was much the same and we were off out of the blocks and coasting to our main goal of Jul 22. What could go wrong? Mar – I decided to complete the Goggin’s challenge of running 12 x 4-mile loops of Wendover every 4hrs for 48hrs. Lap 7, mile 21, I felt a ping in my lower right leg, despite this setback, I completed all 48 miles and once the swelling had subsided, discovered I had a tear in the Achilles. Training was derailed and weekly visits to the physio were the new norm. Fast forward Apr and after avoiding Covid for over 2 years, both Cindy and I felt the full force of it within a week of each other over Easter. Great prep for the fatigue we will endure on the 350 miles south.

May has been slow and steady in building towards full fitness and the final push to get ready to step off in Glasgow. A local walking group organised a 7-mile effort across the Chiltern Ridge on 29 May from Whiteleaf Cross to Wendover High Street and raised some funds with a raffle of prizes kindly donated by local businesses in Wendover. My shoulders felt the workout carrying my 3-year old daughter on my back for 2 straight hours across uneven terrain.

Why am I writing this article? It is so important to raise awareness of suicide and back in Feb, Cindy and I teamed up with Lotte to deliver a presentation to RAF Halton personnel including SLT on “Time to Talk” day. A request from me as we ready ourselves for this challenge, is please take 5 mins out of your day to read our story on the Just Giving link and follow our journey on the social media links below. We have a few events between now and the big one, if you’d like to know more, please do not hesitate to get in touch and if you find yourself near one of our 14 legs over the summer, feel free to pop along and say hello, we’d love to see you. You can follow #Pacing4Pat350 on social media across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. George & Cindy.

Pat – George’s brother.

George – Goggins Challenge Mar 22.

Cindy & George with Hectors House T-Shirts on during the colder months.

Daisy, George, Cindy, Skye, Caleb – Family training walk May 22.

Cindy, George, Lotte – Time to Talk day Feb 22.