2009 Four Peaks Challenge -4 mountains, 4 peaks, 2 days and £265,000 pledged for Spoon

In reality most of the hard work had been done before everyone gathered at the foot of Ben Nevis, not only had hundreds of feet of training been completed in the preceding months, but herculean fundraising and sponsorship efforts had been made by all of the challengers with each team pledging to raise a minimum of £4400 in order to guarantee their place.  The emotional and exhausting journey started on Thursday 2nd July at Fort William, the town at the foot of Ben Nevis, where teams were invited to visit one of Wooden Spoon's many projects and see exactly where the money they raise goes. Lochaber Hydrotherapy Pool has recently been built with assistance from Spoon and has already made a difference the lives of more than 300 disadvantaged children in the Fort William area. 

Having attended a team photo shoot at the pool,  and after a thorough briefing, the excited challengers made their way to the foot of Ben Nevis and nervously gathered around the start line ready conquer the largest of the four mountains on the challenge. Although there was a distant sound of thunder, the start line remained dry as teams were kit checked then cheered across the line. Unfortunately the dry spell didn't last long and as soon as the last team crossed the line the rain started to fall, (not quite the heat wave that had been predicted!) While rain was falling on the start team at the bottom of the mountain the climbers and summit marshals were experiencing a fantastic view from the top and everyone completed the mountain in day light before making the long night drive to North West England ready for mountain number two the following morning.

After a couple hours sleep in Threlkeld Cricket Club teams started to gather their kit and head to Helvellyn ready for the early start at 6am. The weather conditions had improved and teams were eager to complete the shortest of the four mountains and head on to Snowdon for the second mountain of the day.  The drive from the Lake District to Wales was a very wet one and teams started to get their waterproofs at the ready. Fortunately they were not needed and as we arrived at Snowdon teams were sitting out and enjoying the sun (as seen at left!). As the teams headed up the mountain the drivers enjoyed soup and sandwich at the Royal Victoria Hotel whilst watching a spot of tennis, (Sorry climbers, we were going to keep that one a secret!) It was a late finish on Snowdon and the last climbers were assisted down by the marshals at 10.30pm! Teams stopped at various eateries en route to Holyhead and got some rest before boarding the night ferry to Dublin. The ferry offered some welcome sleep for drivers and climbers and the floor of the ferry was lined with a sea of sleeping bags and weary competitors.

On arrival at Dublin a convoy of Ford vehicles made their way to South West Ireland and gathered in Killarney ready to tackle the final mountain and the famous Devils Ladder.  As teams arrived at the finish line all their pain was masked with excitement and adrenalin as they knew there was only one mountain to go. They skipped up to the top with smiles on their faces, (despite the rain that was gradually topping up the river crossing) and once at the top they were greeted with a fantastic surprise! The sky was clear, the view was fantastic and to top it all off the summit marshals were serving Pimms and lemonade at their very own Carantouhill Cocktail Bar! The trip down was equally as fun as the marshals at the river crossing were in fancy dress and encouraging teams to bob for apples as the crossed the waist heigh river! To top it all off they were cheered across the finish line to the sound of cow bells, our resident band ‘Tuatha’ and the welcome smell of bacon butties and massage oil!

Whilst the fastest time was an impressive 8 hours 34 minutes and 51 seconds on all four mountains, the slowest teams spent a little longer reaching the peaks with the Wooden Spoon winners completing all four mountains in a knee buckling but determined 22 hours 20minutes and 43 seconds – Ouch! Well we’ve done it again with the 2009 event being billed as the best yet with some fantastic camaraderie, a great bunch of teams, some incredible fundraising totals, lots of personal battles through the pain of blisters, aches and strains and finally a fantastic party to celebrate the end of the challenge.

Well done to all the teams on your fabulous achievement and for being such a fantastic group of people! Everyone’s a winner on the Four Peaks challenge but special congratulations go to the prize winners: Tribac Trotters were the 2009 Challenge Award Winners pledging a fantastic £21,000 and completing all four mountains in a swift 11 hours 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Va Va Victory from HMS Victory pledged a victorious £30,000 and won the Most Funds Raised Award for the third year running (now that’s impressive!). The Old Buzzards flew up and down all four mountains in a roaring 8 hours 34 minutes and 51 seconds and won the Fastest Time Award.

The Wooden Tops celebrated 12 years of Four Peaks and the banking of their £100,000th pound and won the Veterans Award with a total climbing time of 11 hours 2 minutes and 55 seconds and £8,510 raised. Daisies Damsels soared and took the Ladies Award with a time of 13 hours 44 minutes and 7 seconds. The Mixed Team Award went to Goldilocks and the Three Bears with a climbing time of 13 hours 11minutes 1 second and £10,000 raised. Father up the Hill did extremely well and won the Ben Nevis Award with a climbing time of 3 hours 8 minutes and 17 seconds. JHC sailed up and down in 1 hour 39 minutes and 14 seconds and won the Helvellyn Award whilst the Vivaro boys took the Snowdon Award with a speedy climbing time of 2 hours 25 minutesand 42 seconds. The Carantouhill Award went to The Wheezers who completed the final mountain in a fantastic time of 3 hours 28 minutes and 46 seconds. Last but by no means least the Wooden Spoons were awarded to She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain who bravely completed all four mountains in a knee buckling 22 hours 20 minutes and 43 seconds but proved their talent lies elsewhere by also winning the Best Dressed Vehicle Competition for their efforts off the mountains!

Congratulations to you all but the real winners will be the young disadvantaged people who will benefit from Wooden Spoon projects all over the UK and Ireland. Thank you one and all! All of our teams worked incredibly hard both raising funds and climbing hills but none of it would have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors. A big thank you to Mark Beal and his team at Ford for supplying the team vehicles and marshal vans, to Maximuscle who fueled the teams, to Scottish Water who kept us hydrated, to Panavision and Audiolink who kept the marshals in touch, Oki who made sure we stayed in print, Guinness who made the party even more and enjoyable, Groupama who insured our success and Stena Line who ferried us to Ireland (& back!). And finally to our avid supporters including Gordon, John and the staff at the Nevis Centre in Fort William who provided a great send off, Ruth, John and Richard and all their colleagues for a very welcome pitstop and excellent breakfast at the Threlkeld Cricket Club, Tracy and staff at the Royal Victoria Hotel, our Darling Eileen Cronin who once more provided endless tea and sympathy at the bottom of Carantouhill, our resident Irish band Tuatha for once again playing above and beyond the call of duty, Merv, Mark and Kevin who provided the set, graphics and sound for the prize giving and the staff at Hotel Dunloe Castle in Killarney for accommodating us and providing such fantastic facilities. And lastly to Jim Milligan at Glen Nevis, United Utilities at Helvellyn and Peter Trumper at Snowdon who provide advise guidance and support to ensure the challenge’s respect for the environment.

We thank you all and hope to enjoy your continued support next year!

Finally…. None of this would be possible without the help of our band of volunteers who give up their time and energy to make the event what it is and were as always, truly exceptional! Huge thanks must go to the girls, Emma, Angela, Katharine, Kerry and Kirsty who timed and scored the teams, Robin who co-ordinated the marshals, Steve , Simon, Ian, Paul, Steve, Pete, John, Henry, Simon, Derek and Alan who served Pimms, gave out sweets, made you laugh and spent a lot of time kit checking and standing on mountains. Thanks also to Mike, Mike, Graham and Ted who stepped in and marshaled on Helvellyn to give the others a rest. Special thanks to Andy, Abbi, Eleanor and Lisa for massaging away the competitors aches and pains and being great fun along the way too. Thanks to our resident paramedics Bo, who came to Ben Nevis and Dave who helped out at Helvellyn. A special mention must also go to Derek for not only marshalling the mountains but also for making fantastic cakes to have with our tea at Carantouhill (& to Jan Thomson for the Flapjacks!). Thanks to photographer Ian Richards for being everywhere and taking fantastic photos throughout! Thanks to David A the treasurer, who did lots of supervising, some cooking and even more counting of the pennies (and of course for the unforgettable ‘you will die’ speech). Many thanks to all the marshals, our challenge motivators, who give up their time and make the effort to make this event the success it is – We will see you all next year!

What a fantastic total to mark the end of one of the most emotional, exhausting and exhilarating Wooden Spoon Four Peaks Challenges yet.  The fastest time was an impressive 8 hours 4 minutes on all four mountains, a whole 10 minutes faster than the previous year, the slowest team and our Wooden Spoon winners spent a knee-buckling but determined total of 22 hours and 5 minutes on the mountains—ouch!   At the end of an amazing 48 hours it was time to party, and what a party it was, with Spoon mascot, ‘Woody’, making a rather spectacular appearance on the dance floor to celebrate his birthday year. Well done to all the teams on their fabulous achievement.