Why would three otherwise well-behaved, sensible young folk choose to brave snow, freezing winds, sharp rocks and assorted injuries to run around cold, dark mountain peaks in the middle of the night? (i) because they are mentally ill, (ii) to repent for past sins, (iii) because they have been wickedly blackmailed into participating, or (iv) all of the above???
Whilst the truth may never be entirely known, certain facts are clear. The three peaks they will be attempting to climb ― in a single 24 hour period from 12:00 May 2nd to 12:00 May 3rd ― are the highest in all of Scotland, Wales and England. If they survive, they will cover around 25 miles (40 km), climb around 10,000 feet (3,050 m), and endure a hair-raising ride of 450 miles (725 km) over winding mountain roads at night, in a distinctly haunted minibus!
Fortunately, however, they do have one important advantage. They are members of the
Extreme Vegan Sporting Association, which means that as well as being naturally skilled at doing extremely silly things, they are committed vegans, and therefore enjoy certain important advantages over meat-eating mountaineers, such as higher antioxidant status ― which speeds exercise recovery.
Additionally, despite their dubious mental status, they are all really very nice people, and will each be donating 100% of the proceeds raised by their participation to Animals Count ― whether they live or not. Animals Count is even nicer, as well as being rather clever. They are a UK political party for people and animals, who will use their funds to contest the EU elections on 4th June 2009. This will be the first time a UK political party for animals will have contested these elections. By doing so they aim to increase the consideration given to animal issues by all political parties!
Team Vegan is committed to minimising their environmental impacts during their three peaks challenge. They will leave no litter, will use mountain paths where they exist, will neutralise the carbon emissions created by their trip at
www.CarbonNeutral.co.uk, using their own personal funds, and, most importantly, will be entirely vegan! Why is that important? Because animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to global warming and species loss ― as well as being frequently cruel to animals, and bad for human health! Further information about these important issues is available from organisations like the Vegan Society and Vegan Outreach.
