Coventry builder's 200 hill mission with hod full of bricks
A builder is completing a mission to climb more than 200 hills in the Lake District while carrying a hod full of bricks to raise funds for charity. Nigel Howell, nicknamed "The Hodfather", has completed 201 of 214 Wainwrights (or peaks) for charity Mind Over Mountains which helps people with mental health struggles. The Coventry man told the BBC he completes the climbs by carrying the hod of bricks, which weighs nearly 5 stones (30kg) on one shoulder for 100 steps, before swapping to the other shoulder. While most climbs have taken him three hours to ascend, he said at his peak he has completed up to seven hills in one day. He will complete the final Wainwright, The Great Gable, in June.
"I usually start at 4.30 in the morning on a Saturday and get home Sunday afternoon and get to work and try to recover for the next time."It's not enjoyable, I wouldn't recommend it", he told BBC Radio CWR. Challenges Mr Howell has completed for charity while carrying the hod include the Three Peaks Challenge, a marathon, a coast-to-coast walk of Hadrian's Wall as well as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. The Mind Over Mountains charity helps people by improving their access to the outdoors."I've always struggled with my own mental health and the mountains have been a saviour for me," he said."I fell in love with the Lake District 25 years ago and have been visiting regularly since. The Wainwrights, the fells that were described in Alfred Wainwright's book Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, has been his hardest challenge to date, he added. Each brick in his hod has been sponsored for £500 by local businesses.
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