Rhondda GP completes Three Peaks Challenge charity trek

Doctor Karen Pascoe tackled Wales's Three Peaks Challenge all in one day for a charity appeal and declared: “I loved it and would do it all again.”

The route took in a climb of Snowdon in the north, Cadair Idris in mid Wales and Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, a walking distance alone of some 17 miles.

The effort involved a total assent of around 1,500m, or just less than 5,000ft.

The Porth-based GP was joined in the marathon trek by her daughter Aimee Blair, 21, and niece Sarah Lawrence, 25.

They raised £1,150 for the Better Life Appeal for the all-Wales Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre at Llandough hospital.

Dr Pascoe said they chose the charity because one of Aimee’s friends had the condition.

“I had been walking more since Easter to keep fit and we came up with the idea of doing the Three Peaks,” she said.

“The climb makes you breathless but you realise that is how someone with cystic fibrosis feels most of the time. It was a fitting comparison to what they have to deal with.

“At times it was awful but it goes quickly. The worst part was the climb up Cadair Idris when you could see a peak at times but then found there was another beyond that.

 “The best part was seeing my son at the end with a bottle of prosecco to celebrate. But I loved being out in the mountains and in the fresh air.”

The walk up Wales’s biggest mountain Snowdon took four and a half hours, while Cadair Idris added five and a half hours and Pen y Fan another two and a quarter hours.

The expedition in all took a gruelling16 hours and 20 minutes to complete including travelling.

The trio had practised climbing in the dark in advance using their head torches and ensured they carried the right equipment for the trek.

The goal of the Better Life Appeal is to improve services by providing cystic fibrosis patients with the most modern medical equipment available.

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