In memory of a young girl who lost her battle to Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), fell runner and Ascendancy Apparel athlete Paul Haigh is set to run the Yorkshire Three Peaks not once but twice in a row, his ultimate aim to raise money for Abbie’s Army.

Paul has been a keen fell runner for five and half years and recently completed the Bob Graham challenge

In the summer of 2019, eight-year-old Phoebe Rawcliffe was diagnosed with a DIPG, a highly aggressive, inoperable brain tumour. A mere three months later Phoebe tragically passed away. Paul, a colleague and friend of Phoebe’s dad, Mark, was so moved by Phoebe’s story that he committed to several challenges to help fundraise, including running the Double Yorkshire Three Peaks at the end of July.

Hebden Bridge resident Paul has been a keen fell runner for five and half years. This year he ran the Bob Graham — a 66-mile route in the Lake District with a 24-hour time cap — in under 20 hours, and has completed various marathons, including the Yorkshire Marathon. He’s also run the Yorkshire Three Peaks fell race — which includes the summits of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough — twice before. His fastest time was 3 hours 46 minutes.

“Phoebe always loved the outdoors,” says Paul. “When she was in the room life was always brighter and more enjoyable, filled with laughter and joy. I committed to Mark to run the double in her memory and to raise as much money as I can.

“DIPG is a brutal, super aggressive disease. The cancer wraps around the healthy brain stem, restricting movement, speech, sight, and the ability to swallow and eventually breath. What makes it even more shocking is that treatment protocols have not changed in 60 years. The Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s daughter Karen received the same diagnosis as Phoebe in 1962 and she was offered the same treatment — radiation — as Phoebe. Every 9 days another family in the UK is destroyed by this diagnosis and the absence of hope.”

Abbie’s Army is a charity which funds medical research to give hope to those patients and families affected by DIPG.

Paul had intended to complete the challenge last year but due to the pandemic it was put on hold. While the Bob Graham was arguably the most physically demanding run, Paul wanted to take on something more relatable to those reading Phoebe’s story.

“The Bob Graham is on another level; more people have climbed Everest than finished it,” he explains. “The Three Peaks is a very accessible challenge for the average walker and it’s something most people could aspire to do if they put their minds to it.”

The current record for the double is 9 hours 13 minutes and Paul is aiming to finish in under 10 hours. To put it to scale most walkers complete the single walk loop in an average of 12 hours, but once Paul has run the three peaks once, he’ll head back round for another lap. Paul will need to average a pace of 5 miles per hour to achieve his goal time.
“My main concern isn’t the hills, but it’s the stretch of flat land between Pen-y-ghent and Ribblehead where I’ll need to keep a quick, constant pace,” says Paul. “My training has been completely flipped on its head. For the Bob Graham I was running about 50 miles reaching 15,000ft of elevation per week. The focus was hills, hills, hills but now I’ve been incorporating more speed training, running lots of sprints. I’ve only had about four weeks of intense training, too. I’d say it’s akin to a marathon runner doing a 1500m race!”

Currently, Paul’s impressive statistics for the year stand at 1,280 miles and over 300,000ft of ascent; he’s run up Everest 10 times.

Usually, long-distance runners finish an intensive training plan two weeks prior to an event before ‘tapering’ off to let their muscles recover and prepare for the big event. However, Paul decided to throw in a marathon in the middle of July to “keep his legs ticking over.”

“It provided an extra bit of speed training, too,” he says. “On the day, I’m staying in a campervan the night before in Ribblehead as I’m heading on holiday the day after. I find I always have a good sleep in the fresh air. I normally eat about two hours before a run; I don’t overdo it to avoid indigestion but want to be properly fueled for the day ahead. I’ll have a fast support group pacing the first loop with me and people will be joining in on the second.

“This definitely feels like the biggest challenge I’ve done. While the Bob Graham had the 24 hour cap there was no time pressure and I felt confident in my training; the hills were in the legs and I knew I’d get round. With this, I know I’m going to have to push myself and keep the pace. But I’ll keep going as the cause is so worth it.”

Keep up with Paul

Instagram: (calder_hag)

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