FROM MADRID TO LA MARINA
One man is this morning waking up in Madrid facing a very long walk home – back to La Marina and with a 520km trek ahead of him, that homecoming is not expected to be until after April 6th.
Jon Alger realises he has a tough challenge ahead of him and also realises that most people would think he was mad, but it is all in aid of a good cause – to raise much needed funds for the San Fulgencio Cricket Club. “It is going to be hard, I know that, and after the first few steps I know I'll be thinking ‘what have I got myself into' but I'll be thinking of why I'm doing this the whole way.”
The charity walk has taken around 6 weeks to plan. He contacted a keen walker who did the Three Peaks challenge last year who helped map out his route. It avoids much of the mountain ranges and Jon is never more than 10km from a town or village should he get in to difficulty during his solo trek. “He is also on hand in case I need help, he is only a few hours away and will know exactly where I should be at any time.”
Jon is fearless at what lies ahead and if anything, believes he will have to slow down and things gently, “I push myself way too hard, I don't need to get to where I need to be by 2 or 3pm in the afternoon, I need to slow down and take my time. If everything goes perfectly to plan,
I'm looking at walking 50km a day but I've got no problem with having a day off if I need to because the last thing I want to do is call up and say ‘come and get me,' I don't care if it takes me 2 or 3 weeks I want to finish it and I will do it.”
Jon has been in training by walking daily to places like Elche and Torrevieja and will be camping out overnight en-route, anything to keep the costs down as he is funding the whole challenge out of his own pocket saying “I don't believe in taking money out of the pot to cover my costs, its all about putting money in.”
It is no mean feat and Jon says he has already lost 10lb in weight and feels 10 years younger, but will he have aged those 10 years by the time he gets home?
The walk came about when Jon was invited to do an Umpire Course by Cricket España in Madrid and whilst the course was free, he had to pay for transport. “I thought how was I going to get there but I'm very impulsive so I thought I'd walk!” The idea was born and after getting a 4.99€ flight to Madrid he decided to turn the return journey in to a sponsored walk for the club.
“We run as a professional club and last year spent 3,000€ and the travel is the main expense.” Jon continues, “It's getting more and more difficult to ask for money from the same people each year so the idea of this was to do one major thing which will hopefully fund the season ahead and then we don't need to keep pestering people.”
Jon's ‘pestering' is well known in the local community as his passion and love for the sport exudes from him but he is keen to raise awareness further afield. Despite its name, the San Fulgencio Cricket Club is not just for local kids and with their home ground actually being at Campoamor Golf, Jon is keen to invite anyone up to the age of 18 to join them.
Jon's passion for cricket is what will get him through the next few weeks and will raise much need funds for the cricket club he formed three years ago to inspire and encourage youth cricket here in Spain. After moving to Spain he quickly contacted Cricket España and soon became the cricket officer for this area giving boys and girls free cricket.
“Cricket is very expensive but with the funding we get from Cricket España and the equipment they provide and the fundraising we do, we do provide free cricket. The only thing they have to pay is a contribution towards the transport to get them to games and by raising money I hope to reduce those costs.”
For more information about the San Fulgencio Cricket Club or to pledge your support and make a donation, call Jon on 605 528 652, just bear in mind, he may be a little pre-occupied these next few weeks!