£257,531.10.....What a fantastic total to mark the end of our 21st Wooden Spoon Four Peaks Challenge.
In reality most of the hard work had been done before everyone gathered at the foot of Ben Nevis, not only had hundreds of ft of training been completed in the preceding months, but herculean fundraising and sponsorship efforts had been made by all of the challengers with each team pledging to raise a minimum of £4400 in order to guarantee their place.The emotional and exhausting journey started on Thursday 1st July at Fort William, where teams were invited to visit one of Wooden Spoon's many projects and see exactly where the money they raise goes. Lochaber Hydrotherapy Pool has recently been built with assistance from Spoon and has already made a difference to the lives of more than 300 disadvantaged children in the Fort William area.

Rugby legend and team driver Jason Leonard joined his fellow teams for a thorough briefing, the excited challengers then made their way to the foot of Ben Nevis and nervously gathered around the start line ready conquer the largest of the four mountains on the challenge. The start line remained dry as teams were kit checked then cheered across the line. Unfortunately the dry spell didn't last long and as soon as the last team crossed the line the rain started to fall, (not quite the heat wave that had been predicted!) . Everyone completed the mountain in daylight before making the long night drive to North West England ready for mountain number two the following morning.
After a couple hours sleep in Threlkeld Cricket Club teams started to gather their kit and head to Helvellyn ready for the early start at 6am. The weather was glorious , the midges were out and teams were eager to complete the shortest of the four mountains and head on to Snowdon for the second mountain of the day. The drive from the Lake District to Wales was warm and sunny and as we arrived at Snowdon teams were sitting out and enjoying the heat. As the teams headed up the mountain the drivers enjoyed soup and sandwiches at the Royal Victoria Hotel whilst watching a spot of tennis, (Sorry climbers, we were going to keep that one a secret!).
Once Snowdon was conquered teams stopped at various eateries en route to Holyhead and got some rest before boarding the night ferry to Dublin. The ferry offered some welcome sleep for drivers and climbers and the floor of the ferry was lined with a sea of sleeping bags and weary competitors. On arrival at Dublin a convoy of Ford vehicles made their way to South West Ireland and gathered in Killarney ready to tackle the final mountain and the famous Devils Ladder.
As teams arrived at the finish line all their pain was masked with excitement and adrenalin as they knew there was only one mountain to go. They skipped up to the top with smiles on their faces, and once at the top they were greeted with a fantastic surprise! The sky was clear, the view was fantastic and the summit marshals were smiling. To top it all off they were cheered across the finish line to the sound of our resident band 'Tuatha' and the welcome smell of bacon butties and massage oil!
Whilst the fastest time was an impressive 7 hours 15 minutes and 23 seconds on all four mountains, the slowest teams spent a little longer reaching the peaks with the Wooden Spoon winners completing all four mountains in a knee buckling but determined 20 hours 15 minutes and 59 seconds - Ouch!
Well we've done it again with the 2010 event being billed as the best yet with some fantastic camaraderie, a great bunch of teams, some incredible fundraising totals, lots of personal battles through the pain of blisters, aches and strains and finally a fantastic party to celebrate the end of the challenge. Well done to all the teams on your fabulous achievement and for being such a fantastic group of people!
All of our teams worked incredibly hard both raising funds and climbing hills but none of it would have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors. A big thank you to Mark Beal and his team at Ford for supplying the team vehicles and marshal vans, to Maximuscle who fueled the teams, to Scottish Water who kept us hydrated, to Panavision and Audiolink who kept the marshals in touch, Oki who made sure we stayed in print, Groupama who insured our success and Stena Line who ferried us to Ireland (& back!) Laser Crystal for providing excellent prizes. And finally to our avid supporters including Gordon, John and the staff at the Nevis Centre in Fort William who provided a great send off, Ruth, Gill Richard and all their colleagues for a very welcome pitstop and excellent breakfast at the Threlkeld Cricket Club, Tracy and staff at the Royal Victoria Hotel, our Darling Eileen Cronin who once more provided endless tea and sympathy at the bottom of Carantouhill, our resident Irish band Tuatha for once again playing above and beyond the call of duty, Kevin who provided the sound for the prize giving and the staff at Hotel Dunloe Castle in Killarney for accommodating us and providing such fantastic facilities. And lastly to Jim Milligan at Glen Nevis, United Utilities at Helvellyn and Peter Trumper at Snowdon who provide advise guidance and support to ensure the challenge's respect for the environment.

We thank you all and hope to enjoy your continued support next year

Everyone's a winner on the Four Peaks Challenge but special congratulations go to the prize winners: The Rovers …… Return were the 2010 Challenge Award Winners pledging a fantastic £8,502 and completing all four mountains in a swift 9 hrs 59 mins. The Hairy Bankers from RBS banked a whopping £33,000 and won the Most Funds Raised Award. The Jam Potters flew up and down all four mountains in a roaring 7hrs 15 mins and won Fastest Time Award. First timers The Desert Rats won the Veterans Award with a stirring total climbing time of 10hrs 29mins and £4,400 raised whilst Whoop that Summit soared and took the Ladies Award in a time of 11hrs 23 mins and £5,200 raised. The Mixed Team Award went to Carter Jonas Southern Softies with a climbing time of 13hrs 47mins and £4,900 raised. The plodders despite their name flew up Ben Nevis and won the Ben Nevis Award with a climbing time of 2hrs 32mins. www.4peaksake.com surfed up and down in 1 hour 27 mins and won the Helvellyn Award whilst the Vivaro Veterans raced up and took the Snowdon Award with a climbing time of 2hrs 15mins. Gin'll Fix It did extremely well and set a Challenge first by being the first ladies team to win a mountain award and claimed the the Carantouhill Award with a time of 3hrs 20mins. Carol's Lucky Welsh Charms won the battle of the car park to take the Best Dressed Vehicle Award. Last but by no means least the Wooden Spoons were awarded to The Liver Birds who bravely completed all four mountains in a knee buckling 20hrs 15mins.

Congratulations to you all but the real winners will be the young and disadvantaged who will benefit from Wooden Spoon projects all over the UK and Ireland.

Thank you one and all!