Mike Penning met with “10 squaddies, 10 marathons in 5 days” soldiers as they passed through Hemel

Mike Penning met with a team of ten soldiers from 39 Engineer Regiment who completed 10 marathons in 5 days to raise money for St Dunstans.

Mike Penning, Member of Parliament for Hemel Hempstead, met with a team of ten soldiers from 39 Engineer Regiment who were on their way to completing a gruelling 10 marathons in 5 days – each carrying an army issue Bergen rucksack filled to weigh 40lbs and wearing their combat boots rather than trainers. The team, consisting of 9 men and one woman, ‘tabbed’ 266 miles from Sheffield to Brighton and passed through Hemel Hempstead on the way.

The soldiers are raising money for St Dunstans – the charity for blind ex-servicemen and women.

They arrived at Hemel Hempstead Sportspace just before 6am on 4th November, where they had a quick cup of tea before they quickly left again as they were meeting with the Prime Minister in Downing Street that afternoon.

Mike said:
“The ‘10 squaddies, 10 marathons in 5 days’ is a gruelling challenge to set themselves and the lads were pushing themselves very hard. I was honoured to meet them and wish them all the best and I understand they met the Prime Minister in Downing Street later that afternoon. But if anyone suggests that proves I can walk to work…!

“St Dunstan’s does an incredible job in providing support for blind and visually impaired ex-Service men and women. It is a very worthwhile cause.”

Donations are very welcome at: http://www.justgiving.com/10squaddies

On completing the task, organiser SSgt Jim Offord said:
“I am over the moon with what they've done. They've worked really hard and I couldn't have asked for more from them.

"St Dunstan's do fantastic work but not that many people are aware of them so I really hope that by doing this they get more publicity as they really deserve recognition."

SSgt Jim Offord , who also completed the task, added:
“I created the 10 Squaddies, 10 Marathons in 5 Days to support St Dunstan’s as we want to give something back to a charity that helps our fellow soldiers in difficult times. To keep it interesting I threw in the idea of wearing our Bergen’s filled to weigh 40lbs, plus combat boots rather than trainers. I went for 10 Marathons in 5 Days as I couldn’t find a record that it had been done before; there were plenty of reports of 5 marathons in 10 days, or 10 in 10 days, but no-one seems to have done 10 marathons in 5 days. People said that it’s physically impossible but we’ve proved them wrong.

“The 10 Marathons in 5 Days had the full support of the Regiment as they know the important work St Dunstan’s does to help ex-Service men and women who have lost their sight regain control to lead independent and fulfilling lives. We had a strong team and good support. Each person needed to have the mental and physical strength to complete a marathon day and night during the heart of winter.”

The team have raised 94% of their £12,000 target so far. Visit http://www.justgiving.com/10squaddies to donate.

Photos: 10 Squaddies, 10 marathons in 5 days – and support team, (top) outside No 10 Downing Street and (bottom) with Mike Penning as they pass through Hemel Hempstead