Sarah Winter

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Why did you decide to fundraise for your chosen cause?

I decided to take on this challenge as I lost my best friend – Eddie the Golden Retriever - to lymphoma when he was just 4½ years old.

My beautiful Eddie was diagnosed with T-Cell lymphoma on 15 July 2021. T-cell is the more aggressive type of lymphoma, and when Eddie was diagnosed, he was only expected to have around 2 weeks to live. It was absolutely heart breaking.

There is currently no cure for Lymphoma and chemotherapy doesn’t always have an impact. But we got lucky. Eddie had his first chemotherapy on 16 July, the day after his diagnosis, and his lymph nodes reduced.  

I had my awesome Eddie with me for eight more months which we spent making memories - lots of wonderful memories - together.

Eddie died on 15 March 2022.

How did you raise money?

The Great Glencoe Challenge is a 26.2 mile trek - from the heart of Glencoe to the foot of Ben Nevis – to be completed within 12 hours.

The first 5 miles to the first checkpoint were pretty straightforward - a good leg-warmer! But then the terrain changed to moorland and bog, which was a real leg-drainer and slow-going. After the moorland and bog, I was faced with Devils Staircase; this is a real arduous climb of just under a mile where my lungs and legs were tested.

Having completed the climb, I made it to checkpoint 2 (13 miles) in Kinlochleven where I enjoyed a hot drink and food; after a short stop here to change wet socks, off I went again.

There was another difficult climb out of Kinlochleven, albeit through some beautiful natural woodland. I was welcomed at Checkpoint 3 (20 miles) with a basket of fruit and drink refills, before heading off again on thinner highland tracks full of rocky bits to prevent you from getting into a flow.

The last checkpoint is at 23 miles – refreshed with another drink, I walked the final three miles downhill on forestry tracks to the finish.

I started the Great Glencoe Challenge in dry cool weather at 6:30am and finished it at 3:43pm in pouring rain – thinking of my gorgeous boy Eddie all the way.

Fundraising wisdom

I am thrilled to have raised £4,000 in memory of Eddie and would say decide what you want to and just do it. Make sure to personalise our JustGiving page with your story and share your page far and wide.

Useful Links

The Riddell-Swan Veterinary Cancer Centre

Hospital For Small Animals