A LOCAL man, Ian Harryman, has walked from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money for Help for Heroes and CLIC Sargent – and paid tribute to the ‘extraordinary kindness of strangers’ along the way.
Ian, from Melksham, completed the end-to-end challenge in 46 days throughout February and March. He raised over £1,100, managing to collect £250 in donations from strangers along the way.
Ian, a member of local running group Avon Valley Runners said, “I originally hoped to run the whole way, but the winter camping equipment I had to take was just too heavy.
“I got injured on my way to Okehampton but managed to buy a pushchair from a charity shop and pushed my rucksack in that; I got a lot of strange looks, but it made life much easier! That lasted until about Chorley when it was getting too many punctures for me to keep up with.
“I was then injured again in Glasgow when I got tendinitis, so rested up for a few days before carrying on through Scotland.”
Ian camped for most of the expedition, but said he was taken aback by the kindness of people who offered him rooms to stay and cooked him breakfast. He was even put up in a five star hotel on the last night in the north of Scotland.
“The best thing about the whole trip was the extraordinary kindness of strangers,” Ian continued. “So many people donated money, offered me food and drink or a place to stay – it was amazing.
“I think that went hand in hand with me not organising the trip and just going with the flow. It was a fantastic adventure and those interactions with people along the way really made it for me.”
