Fighting Fit takes on The National Three Peaks

On Saturday 16th September (going well in to Sunday 17th September) five members of the gym decided to take on one of the UK's potentially hardest challenges together, The National Three Peaks. It consists of climbing the highest peaks in England (Scafell Pike), Scotland (Ben Nevis) and Wales (Snowdon), all as quickly as possible. Whilst there were some spectacular views there was also some tough points where they all really had to dig deep to complete it. After setting off from Manchester at 3am on the Saturday and starting Ben Nevis at 10am the challenge came to an end when they got to the peak of Snowdon on the Sunday at midday.

Here are some questions and answers from all of those that took part to share their experience with you and for an insight in to why you would take on such a ridiculous challenge.

Favourite part of the trip

Declan - The lovely veiw, especially on top of Scafell pike (This was around 1am in the morning so there wasn't much to see apart from a bunch of rocks...)

Kenny - Coming down Ben Nevis. Once the strong/bad weather had lifted the views were amazing and I still had the energy/sense to enjoy it

Roisin - All of it! Such a fab weekend in the outdoors with the best group of people. I guess getting in the van after Ben Nevis was a pretty nice moment & our little stop/the flat bit on Snowdon was nice to chill en route back

Jenni - Each time we started walking downhill after reaching the top of a mountain.

Mike - Definitely Scafell Pike, despite there wasn't much to see I spent a majority of the 4 hours up and down just staring at the stars then realising I had to look forward to see where I was going

Favourite mountain

D - Snowdon, not only was it a good mix of terrain and have some of the best views but it was also the last one

K - Scafell pike is the coolest Mountain. Doing it at night meant you could see headlamps descending the mountain towards you in the pitch black, and the jagged rocks at the top were incredible

R - Ben Nevis – so beautiful – never been there before – despite being tough it bought us altogether as a group

J - Snowdon was the most fun to climb and had the best views... But I actually really liked Scaffell Pike just because being on top of a mountain at 1am was such a unique experience.

M - Each had there little reasons why I enjoyed them. Snowdon had great views and good weather but Scafell at night was amazing so I will have to stick with that

Funniest moment

D - Ned Dudley and his Dudley boys (Scafell Pike's security man apparently) and looking like a single recent divorced dad

K - Declan’s insane laugh

R - Not even sure what was so funny, but en route down from Snowden something was hilarious and could not stop laughing maybe was the over tiredness / delirium. Also Declan’s creepy laugh. And Mike's constant need to be in his underpants.

J - Hard to choose as the exhaustion made everything seem hilarious... Declan getting out of the car in Glasgow and realising he was dressed like a local single dad was pretty funny.

M - Something really tickled Declan at the bottom of Snowdon, I have no idea what it was but he was laughing loud enough for people to hear for miles.

Hardest moment

D - Descending Scafell pike in the dark with no path to follow

K - At the top of Ben Nevis. It was so cold and the weather was so bad that it was difficult to think, just had to keep walking down and waiting for the bad weather to clear, which it did after about half an hour

R - Scafell Pike descent – super tired and didn’t massively enjoy clambering down!

J - Getting so cold I completely lost the ability to function on top of Ben Nevis, and everyone else having to dress me in knitwear and hand feed me like a child.

M - Definitely getting to the top of Snowdon and expecting to get a leisurely train ride down and then being told theres a queue of around 4 hours. By this point I had one knee with about 20% function left in it

Best piece of kit

D - My hand knitted scarf from my grans because it stopped Jenni being a popsicle

K - Gloves, my fingers felt like they were going to fall off at the top of Ben Nevis even with gloves on, without them they might have

R - Head torch (vital) – Neck warmer/ buff thing/ headband for ears – Snacks

J - I don't think any of my kit turned out to be very appropriate haha... Probably the survival blanket, purely because we didn't have to use it.

M - Definitely all of the snacks other people prepared and brought. I think I ate more of Declans flapjack and Kennys brownie than either of them

Would you do it again

D - Yes, but just wait until the mental, physical and emotional trauma wears off

K - Definitely. I didn’t get up Snowdon, and would want to try again

R - Yes - although would probably mix it up a bit & do something slightly different

J - It would be interesting to do it with a bit more preparation/organisation and see if it felt any easier... Also I definitely want to go back to each mountain individually and spend more time exploring.

M - Yes definitely want to do it again with two functioning knees, I reckon if I moaned less about my knees everyone else may have enjoyed it more too. Also would love to get the 24 hour time

Stats of the Three Peaks

Distance walked - 29.6 miles

Steps walked - 71,811

Equivalent floors climbed - 776

Time taken - 26 hours 7 minutes

Distance traveled in car (Manchester to Manchester) - 958 miles

Money raised (So far) - £527 (includes donations made at the gym)

Number of chicken selects missing from Ben's meal - 2

Bags of fruit and nut eaten by Kenny - 2

How many times Mike was in just his underpants - Approx 7

How many times Jay was driving nude - 1 (Hopefully)

Layers of clothing added to Jenni at Ben Nevis summit - 5

Average body temperature of Jenni - -5ºc

Number of knees Mike had left after the trip - 0.5

How many people didn't bring walking boots - 1 (Declan)

The weight of brownies Kenny brought - 2.5kg

Average speed of Roisin - 15mph faster than everyone else

How many dogs and small children ran past Mike on the way up Snowdon - 9

Amount of caffeine consumed by Roisin - 2000mg + the rest (1 coffee = ~100mg)

How many times people thought Mikes travel pillow was an alien head - 14

The amount of times Declan broke down in hysteria - 3

The total amount of time Jay and Annie got to sleep - 2.5 hours

The amount of vegetables consumed by the entire group - 0

How many energy bars Jenni brought for the trip - 16

Total nature pees taken - 0 (Apparently)

Number of handstands Mike did - 1 (It's hard to believe he was upside down less times than he was in his underpants)

As a gym and community we always have some kind of event in the calendar for our members, not always as extreme as this. If you're a member at the gym and have something in mind you want to do just speak to a coach and we can get it organised. If you're not a member at the gym and want to come and train and do some awesome adventures/events with people from the gym come down and get involved :).