{"id":29037,"date":"2023-11-26T16:30:37","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T23:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/?p=29037"},"modified":"2023-11-26T16:31:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T23:31:10","slug":"th-mature-runner-get-inspired-to-do-something-epic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/th-mature-runner-get-inspired-to-do-something-epic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mature Runner: Get Inspired To Do Something Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article will hopefully send you into the New Year with some ideas to do something epic. Something unique. Something doable, and something you\u2019ve never dreamed of doing. Here is my current inspiration: her name is Jane Dotchin. She\u2019s an 82 years old (maybe 83 by now) British lady who just followed her passion, no matter what the odds. Here\u2019s her story.<\/p>\n

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Jane Dotchin with her pals on the yearly trek to Inverness, Scotland positive-info.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Daily Record headline read \u201cPensioner rides pony 600 miles to Scotland every year with beloved dog in saddlebag\u201d. What? I had to open it up, and read a very British rendition of the adventures of one Jane Dotchin. The pictures show her Jack Russell Terrier Dinky as seen stuffed in a saddlebag (Dinky has deformed front legs and can only walk on grassy surfaces). Jane is riding atop her 13-year old \u201cponey\u201d Diamond (who we\u2019re told is an Irish cob mare). She has developed quite a following, having done her long 7-week ride for over 50 straight years.<\/p>\n

Here are some specifics to whet the appetite we all have for a truly epic adventure of our own making. She lives in Hexham, Northumberland and rides up and back to Inverness in Scotland, over 300 miles away. She has a patch over her right eye, which doesn\u2019t bother her much, since she knows the route by heart. She doesn\u2019t take maps, and if there\u2019s stormy weather, she\u2019ll just switch her route to avoid the higher passes. She carries an old cell phone, which is rarely turned on – she keeps it to phone ahead when she\u2019s nearing some acquaintances so she can stop by for a chat. She normally sleeps in a tent (which is tied onto Diamond) and Dinky cuddles up to keep her warm inside at night. This year she took off on August 31st (my birthday – so we\u2019re related in an odd way, right?) and will travel throughout September and October. Her mainstay (which she purchases along the way) is nothing but porridge (the British word for oatmeal), oatcakes (look it up), and cheese -all of which she shares with Dinky. Diamond has the luxury of spending the night on a long tether to graze on grass to her heart\u2019s content.<\/p>\n

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Her main complaint has nothing to do with the rigors of a long trek, but rather negotiating the unbelievable amount of trash along the route. Sometimes when Diamond can\u2019t avoid stepping on pizza boxes or other trash (\u201csingle use barbeques\u201d), Diamond will spook and quickly leave the path. I loved one picture which shows how Jane likes to mount her pony – she likes to have a park bench near where she gets off, so it\u2019s easier to get back on that way.<\/p>\n

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Park the horse near a picnic bench! azviral.net.<\/em><\/p>\n

A good source of information came from Bhupinder Singh, writing in the India Times (Dec. 20th, 2021). The public has taken notice of her rigorous adventures, and the British Horse Society awarded her the \u201cExceptional Achievement Award\u201d a few years ago. As one can imagine, she called this attention totally uncalled for \ud83d\ude42 She\u2019s definitely my type of adventurer. She\u2019s doing it for the sheer joy of being on the road where she\u2019s calling all the shots everyday…and just being outside for long periods of time. Isn\u2019t that why a lot of us love to do looooong treks – the longer the better? Ask our 100-mile weirdos in the BSWD club…Megan DeHaan, Franklin Coles, Ed Anacker, and I\u2019m embarrassed to say I\u2019m forgetting all the others that do that kind of stuff. I fall apart going out that far, so I\u2019m happy just going on long walks. But, I\u2019ve never gone out for over 9 hours, so the goad here is to go out for 7 weeks! I\u2019d say my main inspiration has to do with the simplicity of Dotchin\u2019s plan. Just get out there, and not be worried about how far you go everyday, in other words – forget about TIME, my big bugaboo! Evidently, riding atop an Irish cob horse has something to do with it. These horses are the national breed of Ireland. They are extremely friendly, gentle, and independent – they have a knack for figuring out problems on their own. They\u2019re perfect for taking trail rides (or road rides) and they\u2019ve learned how to take care of themselves. Dotchin says she averages between 15 – 20 per day, but I guess it makes no difference how far she goes each day. And her joy is finding friends she\u2019s made on her treks to stay with along the way.<\/p>\n

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Out on the road, and close-up of Dinky and Jane indiatimes.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

I also found out she has written a book about her adventures, but I could only find it on \u201cAbebooks.com\u201d. It has 94 pages and is entitled \u201cJourney Through Britain On A Pack Poney 1985-1987\u201d. If it would help, the cover does show the Foreword is written by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall! So, you\u2019ll be in great company if you purchase this book, and it just might be the convincer to go plan your own adventure. 2024 could be the year you graduate from your \u201csame \u2018ole same \u2018ole\u201d workouts, and go do something out of the ordinary!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article will hopefully send you into the New Year with some ideas to do something epic. Something unique. Something doable, and something you\u2019ve never dreamed of doing. Here is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,14,55],"tags":[173,54],"class_list":["post-29037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fun-runs","category-news","category-newsletters","tag-mature-runner","tag-newsletter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29037"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29058,"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29037\/revisions\/29058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winddrinkers.org\/trailhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}