Meeting the Team Making This Happen: Planning a 900-Mile Adventure
- annalouisecoaching
- Jan 2
- 2 min read
When you hear “900 miles, 10 days, swimming, biking and running” you picture long roads, tired legs, endless kit…the event itself. What’s far less visible is the team and the planning behind the scenes that makes a charity project like this even remotely possible.
Travelling from Edinburgh to London via a deliberately higgledy-piggledy route, connecting teenage and young adult cancer treatment centres by cycling, running and swimming, isn’t something you can just wing.
So far, I’ve planned the entire route down to the individual roads. Every turn, every section, every link between disciplines has been mapped, not just for efficiency, but for safety (one of my biggest fears is ending up off-roading on road tyres!), and the reality of doing it day after day on tired legs.
That’s before you even factor in fuel stops, for me, my bike gears and the van! Recovery in between, kit changes, bike maintenance, weather challenges, potential traffic and road closures and generally just moment that don’t go entirely smoothly.
Which brings me neatly to the person who will be making sure the whole thing doesn’t descend into chaos…although together we can be fairly chaotic, we have been known to scale the walls of a quarry without even knowing how we got in there.
The moving logistical centre of it all, aka: the big white van of M Heath Mechanical Services!
My partner, Mike, will be driving the van for the entirety of the challenge — and I think the part of his job that he is dreading most is knowing that his role is far more than “just driving.” He has always been my number one cheerleader through my athletic endeavours so he’ll be continuing to manage logistics day to day, reminding me to eat properly, getting on the bike tools, being the calm in my stormy brain and always, always boosting morale (unless it’s 6am and he hasn’t yet consumed caffeine!).
This guy will be navigating moving schedules and the same long old days that I will. When the day takes a turn, I know Mike will be on the end of the phone ready to regroup, refuel and fix everything as he does best.
And of course, the pup is coming too!! Louie will be along for the ride keeping spirits up and providing his mother with that unconditional love when I need it the most.
What’s next?
With the route now planned, the next big piece of the puzzle is accommodation. Over the coming months we’ll be working out where kind souls will have us stop.
It’s a huge undertaking, but it’s also incredibly exciting.
This challenge isn’t about an individual. It’s about movement, awareness raising, and community — the same values that sit at the heart of MOVE Against Cancer.
None of this happens alone and while I’ll be the one covering the miles, it’s the people behind the scenes who make those miles possible.
I’ll be sharing more about the team, the planning, and the reality of this journey as it unfolds — because the miles might be mine but the journey is very much shared by some gorgeous people providing amazing support for charity.
Thank you MHMS, you’re the best.
Peace and love, A x
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