Lieutenant A Miles, Petty Officer S Bushnell, Leading Hands; S Rowe, D Moon and T Clark and Able Seamen; C Bryant, K Thomas, J Genter, J Hodgson and J Hutchinson pictured together in Glen Fruin above the Gareloch on completion of the challenge.
By Kim Hardie
Faslane-based crew members from Royal Navy submarine HMS Ambush have recently raised £1,200 for the Dolphin Ward at Derbyshire Children’s Hospital.
The group of ten submariners were keen to do something to help others in these challenging times, and with all the restrictions currently in place due to the coronavirus it was difficult to organise a fundraiser that would fit the bill.
Rising to the challenge, the team, who are all keen runners, decided to use some of the wide-open spaces roundabout the submarine’s home port of HM Naval Base Clyde and came up with the idea of running the equivalent height of Mount Everest which is 8,848 metres.
The team aimed to run up and down the hills around Glen Fruin, which is close to the Naval Base, to climb the equivalent height of the mountain in under four hours. To achieve this, the participants ran six shuttles each of steep climbs in Glen Fruin, climbing an elevation of 900 metres and spanning a total distance of 22 kilometres.
The ten runners, all with varying degrees of fitness, finished the challenge in well under the allotted four hours with Leading Hand Rowe crossing the finishing line first with a time of two hours and 50 seconds. Together they raised a total of £1,200 for the Derbyshire Children’s Hospital which is the affiliated charity of HMS Ambush and her crew.
Lieutenant Alex Miles, who coordinated the fund-raising event said: “During these difficult times, it has been hard to try and find something safe and challenging to do to raise money for any charity. I’m glad that we were able to achieve this small token for the Dolphin Ward and I know that it will help them a lot”
The Dolphin Ward is situated in the Derbyshire Children’s Hospital and is a Paediatric Critical Care Unit which specialises in the treatment of under-fives.