Defib.Run

I’m Kieran and I’m raising money towards the £1500 needed to put a defibrillator in a decommissioned red phone box in Buxworth, Derbyshire. I’m running 250 miles over five days: from the first ever phone-box-defib, via four other phone-box-defib-villages, back home. Please sponsor my run at http://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/defibrun or follow my progress live with GPS tracking.

Download a flyer here.

Background

In an era of mobiles, public phones are rarely used. Only one call has been made from my local box in the past five years. So Linda Page and the Chinley, Buxworth & Brownside community association have decided to put the six red phone boxes in our parish to better use: adopting them from BT, and installing six defibrillators, at a cost of £1500 each.

A defib was first installed in a former phone box in Stourton (Wiltshire) in 2010; since then, hundreds of others have followed suit. I thought it would be fun to raise money towards our cause by running from the first phone-box-defib to my phone-box in Buxworth; I just didn't know the first one was in Stourton! I've planned my route to take me past a number of other phone-boxes, and I'll be stopping at a different phone-box-defib-village each night.

Support

I’m running alone, carrying food and clothes with me. Whilst I’m ready to embrace the loneliness of the long-distance runner, I’d be delighted to have your company for any part of the run. I’ve put some guesstimated times on the route description, (sort-of) based on averaging 5mph, but you can use tracking to see exactly where I am.

Update: I've added details of the crazy gang helping me out to each day's description. Get your name in lights below!

Route

Update: In the interests of making it round, I've cut out some of the pretty-but-circuitous bits, and have instead hired a crow to follow. Some of the distances are less, and some of the times have changed.

Thanks

I’ve been overwhelmed with people’s generosity. In no particular order, thanks

• to Joe from the Community HeartBeat Trust for (twice!) making a map of phone-box-defibs
• to Ruth from Move physiotherapy in Chinley for keeping me in working order (so far!), for free
• to Rupert from Mountain Fuel, to the Hobbit, and to Dan from The Old Hall for advice on running too far; and to Rupert again for giving me his fuel at mates’ rates
• to Mike and Rosie from Paxford, and to Aubrey from Cotesbach for (incredibly unexpectedly) putting me up for the night
• to Rod for scanning his guide to walking the Macmillan Way
• to Kelsa, CJK Packaging / iBottles, Reading Matters and Vinyl compounds for their whopping donations
• to Buggy Club for donating the proceeds of their 2015 Harvest Festival
• to I'm Sorry I Haven’t A Clue for giggling me through my training runs
• and to Larry for looking after Wilf whilst I go running all day

In the news

• BT Life, 13 April: Man to run 250 miles in five days to raise money for phone box defibrillator in Buxton
• Buxton Advertiser, 15 April: Village phone boxes to house defibrillators in High Peak
• British Heart Foundation, 20 April: A 250 mile run to raise money for a phone box defibrillator – now that’s an impressive challenge!
• High Peak Review, 15 May: Kieran's Life-Saving 250 mile run

Gallery

Stourton (© BBC); more at the Community HeartBeat Trust

Ewen (thanks to Anne Lowton); more at the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard

Paxford (© Gloucestershire Echo)

Cotesbach (© I am into this)

Barrow-on-Trent (© David Dixon @geograph); more at the Derby Telegraph

Western Lane, Buxworth

Team Defib at Lower Lane, Chinley (© Buxton Advertiser)