iplicit’s high achievers: Charity team prepares for the Three Peaks Challenge

The challenge involves scaling Scafell Pike in England’s Lake District, Ben Nevis in the Scottish Highlands and Snowdon in North Wales – all in 24 hours. The feat involves 23 miles (37km) on foot and a total ascent of 10,052 ft (3,064 meters). 

The six are completing the challenge in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. 

Writing on a JustGiving page, the team said: “At iplicit, we believe in the power of community and recognise our responsibility to contribute beyond the confines of our daily jobs. We understand that true success isn't measured solely by profit margins but by the positive impact we make on the world around us. 

“Through their tireless training and unwavering dedication, the iplicit adventurers are not only pushing their physical limits but also raising vital funds for those less fortunate. Every step they take up the rugged terrain is a step towards providing support and hope to those in need.” 

Tim Coles said: “This is one of those endurance style events that you want to tick off your list. I’ll never run a marathon because my knees would fall apart but I can do this and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. 

“What we’re attempting to do is really hard – scaling these three mountains and doing the drive between them in 24 hours. There will be a really big sense of achievement once we, hopefully, complete the challenge.” 

Luke McKenna said: “I’m a keen hiker and have done Scafell Pike before but not Snowdon or Nevis. 

“In my day-to-day life, I’m often out running or going to the gym, exercising seven days a week to counterbalance the eight hours a day spent looking at a screen. I love my job but there needs to be that balance. This is something that will be very taxing physically and probably mentally but it should also be refreshing for all of us. 

“But the most important thing is that hopefully we’ll raise a lot of money for a really good cause. 

“We chose Macmillan Cancer Support because it’s a UK-wide charity which we all felt strongly about. With a team spread all over the country, we thought that was important.” 

Tim added: “This team comes from different departments and it’s a tribute to the iplicit community that we can do a challenge like this, all thrown together for 24 hours, and we’re really looking forward to it. 

“It’s a tribute to the people we’ve hired that there’s this sense of community –and that’s going to be one of the drivers for our success as a business.” 

iplicit is supporting the effort by giving each of the team a day’s leave and matching the team’s budget.  

You can sponsor Luke, Sam, Tim C, Tim B, Matt and Monty by visiting their JustGiving page. 

Some quickfire questions 

What snacks are you taking with you? 

Tim: “I can destroy a bit of flapjack and when we did Scafell Pike as part of our training, I think I had two cans of Red Bull for the caffeine. 

“You’ve got to be careful, though, because afterwards I had quite a bad headache from massively overdoing the sugar while walking – and then I had a massive sugar low off the back of it!” 

Luke: “I really like these squashy sweets – the equivalent of those drumstick lollies you’d eat as a kid. I would eat a lot of those if I were struggling.”  

Any special equipment? 

Luke: “I'm looking forward to using a headlamp because we'll have to do some of the hiking in the dark. The only time I've ever had to do that in the past is when a walk took far longer than we expected. We're going into this one knowing there's going to be four or five hours of hiking in the dark. 

“Probably the most miserable experience I've had when hiking, outside of niggling injuries, is getting wet feet. So having the right footwear is very important.” 

What bucket list fitness challenges might you tackle after this? 

Tim: “I’d like to do Ride London next year, which is a 100-mile cycle ride. My dad’s done it for years and my whole family like cycling. But I’d also like to look at what sort of cycling challenge you can do on the continent.” 

Luke: “I'm kind of flirting with the idea of running a marathon. I did a half-marathon fairly recently. But because of my personality, I probably wouldn’t want to do it in five-and-a-half hours. I’d probably want to do it in three-and-a-half, which is a lot of training.”