Sore knees and tired feet were again a feature of the Seafarers UK 24 Peaks Challenge.
But it was worth it as the annual event in the Lake District National Park in north-west England raised more than £50,000 ($62,000) for the charity.
Teams from shipping companies took on the attempt to scale 24 peaks on the 50-kilometre (31-mile) route in 24 hours.
The event was described by Carisbrooke Shipping as “probably one of the most demanding mountain events ever organised as a charity challenge”.
So it was no surprise that there were a number of casualties. “We always have a couple of people withdraw due to various ailments, but it was probably the highest percentage [of participants] to date that completed all 24 peaks,” organiser Marie Robson said.
The honours for the fastest time went to Teekay Shipping (Glasgow): Gregory Piechowski, Aren Northey, Matthew Newlands, Mark Endall, Casper Ostergaard and Lewis Salter completed the challenge in 19 hours, 13 minutes and 42 seconds.
They were closely pressed by the two teams entered by Carisbrooke, including chief executive Robert Wester, followed by groups from Maersk Line and last year’s winners, Heidmar.
Top Fundraiser Award went to the Fletcher Group, whose managing director, Keith Fletcher, agreed to match the £6,654 his team had already raised in sponsorship.
Teams had to get up at 4am to tackle some famous peaks, including Red Pike, Helvellyn, Great Gable and Scafell Pike — the highest mountain in England, at 3,209 feet (978 metres). All of the 24 peaks exceed 2,400 feet.
“It was fantastic,” Robson said. “The weather stuck with us for the whole weekend. We had cool morning starts with the sun burning off the cloud as they walked up, so they got some amazing sunrises.”
A Twitter post by Seafarers UK put all the aches and pains in context. There were “lots of sore knees, feet, hips — but absolutely everyone was amazing and can be very proud of themselves.”
