Mountain challenge lies ahead for Ronnie

Aug 28 2009 by Cheryl McEvoy, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

IMAGINE taking part in punishing 90-minute long training sessions with a 30lb pack on your back.

Well, this is exactly what 62-year-old Ronnie Steele is doing in a bid to raise £4000 for Ayrshire Hospice.

For this former marathon runner plans to trek 5896m to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in a 10-day challenge.

Ronnie has run over 300 full and half marathons in his time – but not for 10 years.

So he recruited the services of fitness expert Graham Cullen to put him through a hard core training regime.

Wearing the weighty pack to simulate the weight he will be carrying on the mammoth expedition, Ronnie mixes bikes, rowers, cross trainers and step machines with hour-and-a-half long treadmill sessions.

And he’s confident that his hard work will equip him with the strength and stamina he needs to complete the trek in March next year.

He said: “I’ve run hundreds of marathons, including New York, Boston and London, but I’ve never faced anything like this before.Š

“Graham has prepared me a strenuous but effective training regime, and I am sure I will be ready.

“Keeping motivated, especially while weighed down by the backpack, is tough, but Graham’s support and the desire to complete the challenge is keeping me going.”

Ronnie is a regular supporter of the hospice and a volunteer. He runs a thought awareness group, which encourages brain stimulation for day patients through games, jokes and quizzes.

Along with a group of other trekkers he will follow the Machame route, which approaches the mountain from the south. Walkers will pass through dense tropical rainforest to the summit.

Graham, who is a fitness advisor at Bannatyne’s Health Club in Ayr, insists that Ronnie’s commitment and determination will pay off.

He said: “Ronnie is already quite a fit person, but we have had to design a specific training programme that will help him achieve such a physically-demanding challenge.

“He is a fantastic character and, with the right preparation, he will achieve a great personal goal and raise money for an important local cause.”

To donate to Ronnie’s challenge, a sponsorship form is held at Bannatyne’s reception.

Alternatively, email williamsteele123@btinternet.com or log on to www.justgiving.com/ronniesteele