After walking 220km across Croatia in the summer, the pair want to take their fund-raising up a gear
TWO students who take on extreme physical challenges to raise money for charities close to their hearts have chosen their project for 2025 after being inspired by their hero.
James Redwood from Surrey and Ewan Davies from Cornwall, both 21, plan to cycle from Buckingham Palace to The Blue Mosque in Istanbul in September 2025. The 3,600-mile journey is expected to take six weeks.
Their previous feats have included walking 40km per day along the coast of Croatia and hiking across Luxemborg – the trip that began their love affair with extreme challenges.
Those two yomps across a combined 388km have raised more than £7,400 for charity.
While their feats are inspired by the loss of family members, this time around James and Ewan are taking a litle extra inspiration from ‘Hardest Geezer’ Russ Cook.
In 2021, Cook took on a solo run from Asia to London and ran 71 marathons in 66 days for The Running Charity.
In 2024 the ultra-marathon icon became the first person to run the length of Africa, raising more than £1million for multiple charities.
The pair even flew out to Tunisia for 24 hours to meet Cook at the end of his year-long mission.
“We were obsessed with him,” said Ewan,
“Being there with him and seeing what he was doing in real-life was a huge motivation for us, and he will continue to motivate us for the rest of our lives,” said James.
- LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: “We wanted somewhere to conquer.”
In a bid to replicate Cook’s success, in September 2025 James and Ewan will attempt to cycle the same route as Cook, starting in London and ending in Asia.
“It wasn’t even a matter of ‘If he can do it, so can we’, we just want to replicate his success in any way we can – he just gets it done,” said James.
‘Why we do it’
James was 10 when his mum Katherine passed away, aged 47,.after battling breast and oesophagus cancer. He has lost multiple other family members to cancer.
Those experiences provided the determination to push through the pain barrier on previous challenges.
“It was more motivation to get to the finish, for all the donations to go towards our charities so that people don’t have to go through what we have,” said James.
Ewan lost his grandad, Ivor Davies, to dementia last year and saw the struggle for dementia treatment. Ewan feels his grandad was treated poorly when he was first diagnosed, being moved into three different care homes within the first week.
Using the fund-raising platform Give Star to split their donations 50/50, the boys picked charities that are close to their hearts, Macmillan Cancer Support and Alzheimer’s Society.
“Alzheimer’s Society was the main one for me because they focus more on the care of the patient, they should get the care that they deserve,” said Ewan.
Alzheimer’s Society Regional Fundraiser Lauren Bromham said: “We are so grateful that James and Ewan are supporting Alzheimer’s Society. Each hour people generously give to fundraise for us, every event they take part in, every pound they donate, they’re making a life-changing difference to people living with dementia.”
The challenges
The duo’s next challenge is going to be a bike ride after suffering various health issues on their last hike in Croatia
The pair who both say they “grew up on a bike” aim to spend seven hours a day pedalling from Buckingham Palace to Istanbul.
“If we have it in our locker to do something about it then I think it is our duty to, and we did,” said James.
“We are done with walking so we thought of the next step: let’s cycle,” said James.
“When you are on a bike, you can go so much faster, and its much less physically demanding, so we decided it is only right to push it even further.
“Now we know what it is like to taste success.If you are feeling uninspired, do something that scares you, and the euphoria that you feel at the end will make you want to chase that feeling.”
Luxembourg – 2023
Their string of challenges started in July 2023, by walking 148km across the entire length of Luxembourg, with four of their friends.
They succeeded in reaching their original target of £1,000 within two weeks, fundraising an incredible £6,500 by the end of their walk.
On this journey, the boys were faced with torrential rain, poor equipment and lack of sleep.
“The elevation was more than the three UK peaks combined, so it was no walk in the park,” said James.
But, after their first challenge, they set out to increase the elevation, geography and distance on their next walk.
“After Luxembourg, we vowed to never walk again, but there we were a few months later planning the next route,” said James.
Croatia – 2024
Their experience in Luxembourg inspired their most recent walk in August, which took them across the Adriatic Mountains in Croatia.
They started at the border of Split and ended on a small pier in Dubrovnik.
Carrying a hammock and a 10kg backpack, the boys averaged 40km every day, walking along busy motorways and cliff-edges.
“Looking back, we were definitely naive to what we got ourselves into, within the first 15 minutes we were hit with the hardest hill of the trip, you might as well have walked on all fours to get up it,” said James.
On day two, James faced severe dehydration and heat stroke – slurring his words and not realising that he was walking with infected blisters that stretched up to his Achilles.
“At one point I was asking Ewan what my own name was,” said James.
“The final 5km was horrendous, it was like walking with cuts on lime juice and Legos barefoot, by the end I was dragging myself along using whatever I could find.”
Ewan said: “Nothing could have stopped us from finishing that walk, all the injuries and hell we went through was just more motivation to finish it. We had come too far to quit at that point, and we had the charities to think of too.”
Not alone with extreme challenges
“We have definitely seen a rise in long-distance activities like this for people our age, our friend recently ran from Swansea to Cardiff, and last week another friend walked 80km in under 24 hours,” said Ewan.
The 2024 Strava annual report said there was a 9% increase in the number of marathons, ultra-marathons and 100-mile cycle rides being logged on the platform compared to last year.
Sports and exercise psychologist Dr Carla Meijen told The Guardian “There are specific aspects to physical challenges like this, they offer a mix of endorphins, feeling fitter and observing progress.”
“People are reading about them and seeing posts on social media, so there is a greater pool of knowledge. They see others like them taking part and want to give it a try, to be part of the culture.”
But for James and Ewan, the motivation is very close to home.
When the boys reached the finish line of their Croatian hike, they stopped to think of their loved ones.
“The pain was intolerable,” said James.
“But I couldn’t stop thinking about my mum.”
- The boys’ Give Star page remains open for donations for Macmillan Cancer Support and Alzheimer’s Society.
- Listen to The Cardiffian Podcast with James and Ewan talking about their plans for their next walk.
