Another crazy day but perhaps one of the most memorable so far in my preparation. I kicked off this morning with a pounding from a fantastic sports masseuse, I didn’t realise how tight my muscles had gotten from training but believe me she found all the knots, the results are worth it though. Feels like I have a new body.
From there things really started to look up, my good friend and work colleague Kaye had arranged to hold a Coffee and Carols morning as a fund raiser in a local coffee shop, Wood’s Brothers, so it was straight to that after the massage. What a great event, fantastic turn out and unbelievable local support. Thanks so much to all who attended especially those who baked cakes for the cake sale. But most of all thanks to Kaye and Brenda for setting it all up, to Derek for the music, the staff at Wood’s Brothers for their time and generosity and of course to my unstoppable wife who yet again helped co-ordinate a fantastic event.
Then it was back to work, don’t forget I still have a full time job!
In the afternoon I took delivery of all my rowing kit which has been supplied by Helly Hansen. Some fantastic clothing which should help keep me comfortable, warm and dry during the voyage, I should have some pics of it up soon.
And the cherry on top has to be the prize giving from the local Foroige youth group this evening. I met these teens through a local lady, Pam Tease, a few weeks ago after she called into me in work. I visited the group at one of there meetings and they decided to all dress up as Santa and take part in the fun run. I gave them a bunch of sponsor cards in the hope that they might each raise €5 or €10 each, so I was more than a little surprised this evening when they presented me with a cheque for €1,350! This is a bunch of 13 and 14 year old teenagers who have showed amazing energy and enthusiasm to not only dress up as Santa and run 5 miles on a foggy December morning but to also raise enough money to get me another 270km across the Atlantic! It truly is amazing what teenagers can do when they have a common goal, we so often hear bad press about binge drinking and anti-social behaviour but I could not speak highly enough of this bunch who as of a couple of weeks ago didn’t even knew who I was yet they went out of their way to help me. They should be very, very proud of themselves and their parents should be very proud of them too. I cannot wait to come back and tell them all about my adventure and perhaps inspire one of them take on a adventure in the future. I will have some pictures of the presentation tomorrow, my camera decided to act up tonight so no pics yet, grrrrr.
Tomorrow is a photo shoot in the morning for local paper the Clare people and then my work Christmas party in the afternoon.
More amazing teens doing amazing things!
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