Jason Guess & 1250 miles

We were intrigued to discover that one of our customers who purchased a Garmin 550t was using it to its full potential, taking it from John ‘O’ Groats to Lands End via all three peaks. So when Jason agreed to let us follow his adventure we were only too glad to help….

Here is what Jay has to say:

My name is Jay Guess i’m 27 years old, I was born in Luton in 1982, and lived with my parents until the ripe old age of 16 where I decided to join the military.  I spent 6 years working as a mechanic in the British Army.  I served in Germany, Poland, Northern Ireland, Canada, Wales & of course England.  During my time in the military I competed in numerous cycle, swimming, cross country races, marathons, triathlons and many multi-day adventure races.  Since leaving the Military a few years ago I have been a lot less active on the racing scene.  So this year I decided to give myself a proper challenge whilst and also trying to raise £5000 for Cancer Research in the process.  My Uncle has Cancer and it has very poignantly brought to my attention the work of Cancer Research.  It is a brilliant charity that helps a lot of people during very hard times.

My Challenge is started on the 1st September 2009 where I am going to walk from John’O'Groats to Lands End and just to make things a little more challenging I am going to travel via the 3 Peaks of Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike & Snowden.  The walk is going to be around 1250 hard miles and I am planning to reach Lands End by the 31st of October.  I am going completely unsupported.  I will be carrying everything I need for the trip on my back and I am going to be camping the entire way.  I will be covering an average of 20 miles a day, every day for 2 months.  This is not going to be easy!  During my challenge I am taking the modern approach to navigation and with the help and advice of Scott @ Loving Outdoors, I will be souley using a Garmin Oregon 550t.  Not a piece of paper in site.  There are several reasons why I went for the 550t.

1. It is a small compact unit, which means no bulky maps to carry around.  I read a story about a guy who did the LEJOG walk and ended up carrying 57 OS maps!  I don’t even think I could fit 57 maps into my Bergen.

2. I can plan my route quickly and easily.

3. It is much more echo friendly.  Oh and it has an in built waterproof 3.2 mega pixel camera to capture every step of the way!

I am extremely excited about the walk and feel very lucky to be fit enough to attempt the challenge.  I am under no illusions however that this is going to be a stroll in the park as I know that there are going to be times when it is going to be extremely difficult indeed.  During these difficult times I have been preparing myself to focus on the aim of the challenge, to raise £5000 for Cancer Research UK, and I am sure this will spur me on.

I will be sending Bi-weekly updates, signal permiting as to how my challenge is going, so you will be able to track my progress as I travel the length of the country in the “Bored” section of the site.  I would just like to thank Scott and his team for their support and advice.

If you would like to make a donation to sponsor my challenge please visit www.justgiving.com/Jay-Guess