This week, we have a very special guest blog from Tristan Reid who is undertaking a challenge of epic proportions, all for hen harriers. Please support him in his effort!
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My name is Tristan Reid and I am a very passionate conservationist. I have been raising funds for wildlife conservation projects both in the UK and abroad for a good few years now.
I am about to embark on a two year project to raise funds and awareness for the Hen Harrier LIFE Project. The hen harrier is a species that is very close to my heart as it is a bird I used to see frequently during my early adult life on the uplands of Perthshire.
I now live in Cumbria and spend a lot of time in the Lake District National Park and the North Pennines in what should be prime breeding habitat for hen harriers. Sadly seeing one of these species in the breeding season has become a very rare sight indeed.
The plight of the hen harrier is a sad story in its own right; but it is also indicative of the unnecessary negative impacts caused my man on an ever growing list of wildlife species.
I decided that I had to do something significant to raise awareness of the hen harrier’s plight in England.
My plan is to run all 268 miles of the Pennine Way non-stop! As if this mileage wasn’t a big enough ask; the 268 mile route includes over 30,000 ft of ascent over some of the toughest terrain in the country! This is going to be a very tough adventure which is the main reason I will be giving myself two years to train for it!
The choice of using this route as my challenge rests in its relevance to the cause. The Pennines should be home to hundreds of pairs of breeding hen harriers; but unfortunately only a handful are still extant (and often sporadic in their occurrence).
As Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said ‘If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough’. This challenge certainly terrifies me; and it is most certainly big enough!
I will spend the next two years training hard by entering many tough ultra-marathons of increasing distances (you can see my 2016 schedule here: http://www.trisreid.co.uk/94-2/) as well as training with sleep deprivation and tired legs!
This is going to be a very tough challenge; but one worth doing for such a necessary cause.
You can keep track of my progress via my facebook page (here: https://www.facebook.com/runningforhenharriers/) and via my twitter feed (here: http://www.twitter.com/thetrisreid).
You can also show support by donating to the Hen Harrier LIFE project via my Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/HenHarriers
Photo credit: James Kirby