Great North Air Ambulance Service

A PARAMEDIC from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is completing an 80-mile ultramarathon in the hopes of raising vital funds for the charity.

39-year-old paramedic Jamie Walsh and other members of the organisation’s critical care team plan on running between GNAAS’ two bases in Eaglescliffe, Teesside and Langwathby, Penrith, at the end of September over a 24-hour period.

Mr Walsh, from Durham, said: “The charity needs to raise £8 million a year to survive and with a bigger demand for our service than ever, I thought that this was a great way to raise awareness of what we do and why we need the help of the public.

“A couple of years ago, one of the doctors and I decided to raise funds for the charity by cycling base to base so we thought why not do it again this year but run it.”

The team of runners will start the ultramarathon on the 23^rd of September in Cumbria and will then make their way across to the charity’s Progress House base in Teesside.

Mr Walsh said: “We will be heading up over the Pennines, then to Great Dun Fell and towards Cauldrons Snout then down to Darlington.

“It’s expected to take us around 24 hours and we’ll be constantly moving bar feed stations to make sure we are properly fuelled for the journey.”

The team plans on beginning their ultramarathon at 10am in Langwathby and will run for around 16km before they start their 2500km climb which, across the route, is equal to the height of two and a half Mount Helvellyns.

Mr Walsh said: “Training is going well, and I am trying to spend as much time as possible on my legs, so I have been running before shift and doing longer runs on my days off.

“People can show their support by giving us a wave along the route and sharing our pages and fundraising links.”

He added: “We’ve made it to the £2000 target, but I would love to see us hit £8k.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far.”

You can support Jamie on his Great North Base to Base ultramarathon here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gnaasultra?utm_source=copyLink&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=gnaasultra&utm_campaign=pfp-share&utm_term=6eed7e09c0df45bf86741ef659a6a187

About GNAAS

• The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, and Cumbria.
  
• They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
  
  
• The aircraft cover an area of about 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
  
  
• The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
  
  
• GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
  
• The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
  
  
• 2022 marks the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 times across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
  
  
• They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £6.7m a year through public donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok