Thursday 30 April 2009

How did it get to the end of Month 8?

April 30th 2009 ... today marks the last day of Month 8 of my 365challenge year ... hasn't that flown by?

I've been plugging away, knocking off the miles quietly and continuing to promote the 365challenge where I can, whilst also planning my mountaineering adventures ... oh, and fitting in a day job that's been getting busier of late ... damn it, don't they realise I've got a 365challenge to be getting on with!

Fund-raising has slowed down admittedly, but hey, I can't complain too much, as I'm just £131.50 short of achieving £7300, which would mark twice my original target! Not too shabby, eh? Though I guess I'd have to admit that I'm secretly harbouring a hope that I might get close to the £10000 mark by the end of my personal 365challenge year ... oops, I've gone and let the cat out of the bag on that one ... keep it to yourselves, okay, but ... feel free to pass it on to anyone you think might be interested in sponsoring me a bit!! They can go to my Justgiving Page to add their support.

And speaking of Justgiving, they have been part of my promotional efforts this past month and I'm really pleased to announce that they have taken up the 365challenge cause. They've just featured me on their very own blog, which you can read here: 365challenge on Justgiving - it's a really good piece and hopefully will help draw in some more people who might like to take on the 365challenge for themselves.

As for where I'm up to with my 365challenge ... I've got just 250 Km left on the bike and 150 Km left on the rowing machine, so it is all very doable now. My plan is to finish the cycling by the end of May, and then concentrate on clearing the rowing in the final 3 months. And of course, we hit the mountains soon ... Snowdon on May 9th, if anyone would like to join us ... email me on colin@365challenge.co.uk if you fancy it.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

365 x 365ers ... have you got what it takes?

Hi Everyone
I've been wondering ... are there some of my readers out there thinking about taking on the 365challenge for yourselves, but maybe haven't felt that you wanted to commit to it just yet? If so, that's fine, but I wonder if maybe you could just give me a heads up as to what you might be planning or what obstacles you feel you're facing, so that together we might be able to move it on for you - if that's what you want!

I'm asking because I really feel that I need to develop the 365challenge more than I have already, because this cause is just too important not to. I've mentioned this goal previously, but now want to work more focused with it - I now want to help 365 people develop their very own 365challenge to raise money for Cancer Research UK - or if you're based outside the UK, for your local Cancer Research charity.

If every one of the 365 365ers I'm looking for set a goal of raising £3650 across their 365challenge year, that adds up to £1.3 Million for Cancer Research! How amazing would it be to be a part of that sort of a success? And what if all 365 365ers only raised £1000 each, what a shame, that would ONLY add up to £365000 for Cancer Research.

Whatever the final amount, it all adds up to a WIN-WIN situation for Cancer Research UK and the 365challenge ... so what do you reckon ... does that help you in your thinking about whether or not you might take this on? Have you got what it takes ...? I know that many of you have ...

Please post your comments and lets see how far we can drive the 365challenge forward ... together, we can beat cancer!

All the best
Colin

Monday 13 April 2009

getting back on track ... tweet, tweet

Another lengthy gap between posts ... it's not that I haven't wanted to write, but work kept getting in the way (apparently, it's good to be busy at work when you have your own business ... but I have my doubts sometimes ...!) ... but that meant that I wasn't getting to the gym, and wasn't moving things forward as intended with the old 365challenge.

Work continues to be busy, but I've gotten myself a bit better organised now and have managed to knock off a few more Kms over the weekend. I've now got just 400 KM left on the bike ... (could I finish that by the end of May? Am I setting myself a goal there that is achievable? Don't know, but I'll have a shot at it!) ... and 160 Km left on the rowing machine ... that will definitely NOT be completed by the end of May, but, hey, I've got another 3 months after that in my 365challenge year to crack the Thames, so I am confident all will be well by the end of August ... and of course I'll have bagged Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis by then too, so ... GO ME!! And the growing band of wonderful folk who are planning on coming along with me for one, some or all of the mountains!

Funds keep coming in, and it will be great to reach the 200% mark of £7300 (that's 200% of original target goal of £3650) - still £223 to go, but I'll get there, I'm sure.

What I have been doing however (admittedly, sometimes at some cost to my work focus ... you see, it can get a bit addictive ...), is Tweeting on Twitter - you can find me there as 365er.

And it's been a great opportunity to connect with like-minded folk, some doing amazing things of charity ... as well as some complete numpties (though good for a laugh) and some truly lovely folk who are just being themselves ... and when they are celebrities, who just come across as soooo nice and normal, that's a bonus!

But also through Twitter, I have connected with some people who I believe will help me move the 365challenge forward, so on that level, it's been very much worth it. I hope soon to be able to announce details of one of these collaborations, which I'm really happy about ... it should give the 365challenge a profile boost, and maybe draw in some more participants (and even some money).

The other connection may take a little more time to come to fruition, but again, if it does work out ... well, I think it will be a VERY GOOD THING for the 365challenge ... watch this space ... or follow me on twitter to be right in the loop, and maybe even a little ahead of the game!