Postman completes Brecon Beacons race for charity

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A POSTMAN has raised over £1,200 for charity by racing 24 kilometres over the Brecon Beacons while carrying a backpack weighing 18 pounds.

Steven Lewis has been a postman in Kington for over 20 years and showed he is one of the toughest around by taking part in the event ran by ex-members of the SAS and SBS.

The challenge known as the 'Clean Fatigue' version of the Fan Dance sees competitors run from the Storey Arms, to the top of Pen-y-Fan, the car park at Taf Fechan Forest at Torpantau, and then back in reverse to the Storey Arms.


This route is used during the selection process for the special forces and after completing the race each competitor is given a 'patch'.

Steven initially got persuaded to take part in the challenge by a friend and manage to fit in training around being a father to a five-year-old boy and nine-month-old girl.

He said: "I've always fancied doing something like this.

"My friend wanted to do a fundraising challenge and wanted somebody to train with. I raised the money through the Royal Mail's chosen charity as they will match fund whatever I raise for the Stroke Association.

"Training wasn't too bad although there was days when I didn't want to go out. On the day of the event my friends suggested I had a big breakfast so I had egg and bacon in the morning and flew up Pen-y-Fan in 40 minutes."

After reaching the half-way point in 1.5 hours Steven finished the challenge in 30th place out of 69 competitors in 3 hours and 33 minutes.

While fundraising for the challenge Steven pledged to complete the harder 'Load Bearing' version in the winter if he raised his target amount of £1,000, which he has now done.

He added: "I was struggling to raise money so said that if I hit my target I would come back and complete the same route, but carrying 35 pounds of kit to make it more interesting.

"That is not including food and water and there will be a checkpoint to ensure I'm carrying the correct weight."