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2009 will be the
first year for the event running in Wales. Lets make it a good one.
70 Wild Miles has been running for 21 years in Glencoe and 3 years in Fermanagh.
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Where does all your hard earned money go? :- All funds raised for the charities below 1989: Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust 1990: Cancer Research Campaign 1991: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1992: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1993: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1994: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1995: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1996: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1997: Split equally between C/F and CRC 1998: Cancer Research Campaign 1999: Cancer Research Campaign 2000: Cancer Research Campaign 2001: Cancer Research Campaign 2002: Cancer Research UK 2003: Cancer Research UK 2004: Cancer Research UK and CLIC 2005: CLIC Sargent 2006: CLIC Sargent 2007: CLIC Sargent 2008: CLIC Sargent 2009: CLIC Sargent & Tenovus |
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This is perhaps a good
time to remind anyone who has an entry for this year, what 70 Wild Miles
is all about. Here is an example of some of the people who have most
definitely gone that extra mile in making sure their efforts were
worthwhile and that the chosen charity was able to benefit from their
determination. There are really too
many of these outstanding competitors to list fully, however, these are a
few that have stood out from the crowd in my opinion.
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John Barton
Watson In the years that John took part in this event, he gave 100% in his training and his fundraising. In 1995 John managed to win the solo male race after being at the top in fundraising for the previous three years. Part of Johns plan to raise money saw him giving talks and advice to interested people in his local town hall, in Yorkshire. With his enthusiasm and commitment to doing the job proper, John raised thousands of pounds in the four years he completed the event It has been 10 years since John last took part in 70 Wild Miles but during that time, John has never forgotten the event or its purpose. I had the pleasure of meeting up with John very recently in Northallerton and to my amazement, found that his fundraising had never stopped! In the boot of his car, John had brought along another contribution for 2006, he had been collecting all his spare change for ten years! The two very large buckets that John produced from the boot of his car were both full to the brim, one with copper, the other with silver. Each was so heavy; it took John and myself to lift them into the boot of my car! (Still not counted it yet John) John will be 60 years of age on June 3rd 2006, which of course, is the date for this years event. He has been plagued by injuries these last few years; however, John is seriously considering taking part again. I for one, hope he does, John set the benchmark for others to follow which leads me onto another character that present day helpers and competitors will know all about.
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Jimmy Smith When Jimmy burst onto the scene in 1994 with his trademark kilt and sharp wit, he was attending the annual presentation evening at Cramond Boat club in Edinburgh. Here, John Watson was being presented with his trophy for being the highest fundraiser (again!). I can clearly remember Jimmy saying to me at the time I fancy having a go at winning that trophy, I think I will be having it next year That he did! Baring the couple of times he couldn't make it to the event, for various reasons, such as having walk to the North Pole, or walking the Great Wall of China, Jimmy has been the highest individual fundraiser 70 Wild Miles has ever seen. Jimmy became a very familiar sight with my neighbors over the years, dropping of cheques at my house dressed in his kilt, as he does every day at his Edinburgh office. There seemed to be no end to the flow of cheques from home and abroad, procured by Jimmy from his many contacts in the financial world. Jimmys reign as top fundraiser came under threat in 2004, when Bob Sharp, another long standing supporter of the event, bet Bert Hutchinson and his small team from the Cramond Boat Club, that they couldn’t raise £7,000 between them. Bert and his team rose to the challenge and set about training their two relay teams and drawing up plans to raise the cash. With a lot of imagination and hard work, Bert and his team not only raised the £7,000 to cover Bobs bet, they went on to raise an incredible £12,000! Jimmy Smith however, was not going to be outdone and he managed to match the £12,000 that Bert and his team raised! This secured Jimmys number one slot yet again for being the highest individual fundraiser. All this healthy competition was very good for the event and in that particular year, £85,000 was raised. For a single day, a very respectable sum!
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Duncan
MacDonald Duncans fundraising has grown steadily over the years he has taken part. Living in Killin in Perthshire, he is in the perfect environment for training for 70 Wild Miles and Duncan has always put in some very respectable times. How he finds the time for all this training however, is a mystery to me. Duncan spends a huge amount of time knocking on practically every door in Killin looking for sponsorship. This determination has resulted in Duncan raising thousands over the years. I have herd that he is often invited in through some of these doors he knocks on, for a wee dram And to keep his sponsors happy in Kilin, he often accepts!
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John S. Nicoll John is a very focused and determined competitor who has taken part for many, many years. In the first year (1989) I have vivid memories of John overtaking a car towing a caravan on the cycle section, who was getting is his way! John adopts the same approach as Duncan when it comes to gaining sponsorship by knocking on every door in Tarves, Aberdeenshire where he lives. John gathers huge amounts of sponsorship every year as a result. John even teamed up one year with (my fellow organiser at the time) Brian Read, to cover the whole course dressed up as the Loch Ness Monster! As I say, very committed in both fundraising and sponsorship!
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Kenny Short Often the bridesmaid but never the bride. yet?! Despite huge efforts and dramatic progress over the years, there has always been some competitor come along and grab the first place from under Kennys nose in the racing element of the event. A very committed supporter of cancer charities for his own reasons, Kenny will never be beaten when he sets himself a target in fundraising. He trains harder that anyone I have ever met and matches this effort in perfect balance when it comes to his fundraising abilities. You would struggle to find a nicer bloke too! Good luck for the next one Kenny!
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Hamish Irvine
I have strong views on what is the right type of person to take part in 70 Wild Miles. Hamish is right up there at the top of the list with all the other characters mentioned here. I can recall many years ago when we were all still finding our feet a wee bit with organising the event. We (or rather, I) had made a slight miss-calculation. I never got the man with the stopwatch quickly enough to the end of the cycle section at Taynuilt. Those bikes were definitely getting faster! A lot of the leading cyclists were a bit put out that they didn’t have their cycle time accurately recorded. Not Hamish, even though, he was by far the fastest cyclist on the course that day, when advised of this slight oversight, Hamishs reply was typical of the man. Och I'm no bothered, don’t worry, its all for charity after all! This is just after cycling his guts out as hard as he could for 47 miles! Hamish has competed for many years in 70 Wild Miles and has always provided a significant regular amount of sponsorship money. This kind of strong support underpins the whole event and makes it such a great success.
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There are a great many people I have not had a chance to mention here, but there really are far too many. I would hope that you might agree that the ones I have mentioned, are a very good snapshot of what 70 Wild Miles is all about. The people who have slogged away year after year, have made up the bulk of the money 70 Wild Miles has managed to raise so far: £515,000. That’s a lot of sponsorship forms, a lot of £1s, £5s, £10s from friends, families and neighbors. Please keep this momentum going, if you get an entry for 70 Wild Miles, use it wisely and compassionately, they are in short supply as usual. You may not be the next Jimmy Smith, but why not have some fun trying? John Ian Allan 2006
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