Northamptonshire dog handlers take on Three Peaks challenge for charity
Soaked through and with aching muscles, the team completed the challenge in 25 hours and six minutes.
A group of police officers have conquered the Three Peaks challenge, raising nearly £3,000 for two charities.
The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA) and Hero Paws - Life AFTER service support retired service animals, including dogs and horses, who have served with agencies such as the police, the National Crime Agency, prison service, Border Force, and fire services.
Recently retired Northamptonshire Police dogs - RPD Gru, RPD Fama and RPD Olly have all been registered with both charities.
The team of five officers, consisting of Northamptonshire officers PC Bradley Bowman, PC Daniel Bradley-Brophy, PC Lucy Sculthorpe and PC Sean Foster, as well as Leicestershire officer Sergeant Grace Feavyour, set off on Friday, June 13, starting at the highest peak - Ben Nevis in Scotland.
At 4pm when the team started their ascent, the weather was mild and sunny, however an hour into the climb, the heavens opened and the rain continued throughout the climb.
After five gruelling hours, the team had ascended and descended and were back on the minibus to travel to their next destination - Scafell Pike in England.
They arrived at 3am after a five-hour drive and began their ascent in the middle of a weather warning. However, despite the fact that many of the paths were covered in rainwater and a thunderstorm raged above them, the team completed the climb in three and a half hours.
It was then time for a quick clothing change before the journey to their last peak - Mount Snowdon in Wales. It also rained during this climb too but the officers pushed on, and after four and half hours they completed the climb.
Soaked through and with aching muscles, the team had completed the challenge in 25 hours and six minutes.
PC Bradley Bowman said: “This was, without doubt, the hardest and most physically demanding challenge that any of us have ever done.
“The scale of it got to us all at different times, but we pulled through as a team and always had each other’s backs.
“We know that the Three Peaks Challenge is meant to be done in under 24 hours but considering the awful weather and some traffic disruption along the way, we’re really proud of ourselves for completing it in the time we did. Our bodies are now in pieces!
“We’d like to say a massive thank you to PC Ian Rudkin who drove the minibus – we could not have done this without you!
“Finally, we just want to make it clear how appreciative we are of every single message of support we were sent and every pound that has been donated. These two charities do incredible work and to have raised nearly £3,000 to help them continue their amazing work has made us really happy.”