A plucky Denton duo are proving anything is possible if you get your skates on with a once-in-a-liftime challenge across Holland.
Emma Timmis and Emily Pitts are already four days into what they have dubbed the Great E Skate – skating the 120 miles from Overdinkel on the eastern border with Germany to Ijmuiden on the west coast of the country.
The twosome are still on course having covered roughly 42 miles despite Emma falling on Sunday morning and hurting her ankle.
She told MM during a well-deserved break: “It’s very swollen, I’ve damaged it – but this doesn’t make skating very hard but walking is a problem.”
After tumbling into the road yesterday Emma’s ankle is not looking too clever. #swollen pic.twitter.com/hh5zkPphps
— The Great E Skate (@thegreateskate) May 25, 2015
Taking advantage of a journey, the duo have been able to absorb the Netherlands countryside and what the country has to offer in terms of architecture, culture and its favourite pastimes.
Emma said: “So far we have seen fantastic Dutch architecture, the building over here are all very interesting and stylish. We have seen a few windmills, lots of fields, rivers, lots of horses, thousands of cyclists.
“We went to a riverside party with local people a few days ago and have also seen some artwork from people we have met, it’s a wonderful place.”
Hello Apeldoorn @ds_Apeldoorn @_Apeldoorn wij rolschaatsen over het netherland. Wij bent in Apeldoorn! pic.twitter.com/BTyC4ZAuXk
— The Great E Skate (@thegreateskate) May 25, 2015
The pair skate for around four hours a day, and somewhat surprisingly given the size of the task and aside from Emma’s tumble, haven’t encountered any real problems yet and the girls have been able to stay motivated.
They’ve been staying with a variety of different people each night whilst on their travels, from students to ordinary working people.
The majority were met through Couchsurfing.com, but the pair have stayed with a friend of a friend after meeting her through Facebook looking for accommodation
Emma first spoke to MM a couple of months ago and said she came up with the idea last year when she was preparing to run across Africa and wanted to do something similar, but without the stress.
The journey began last Friday from the border between the Netherlands and Germany and Emma and Emily are hoping reach the end by Friday.
As well as doing it to prove that adventures don’t have to be scary or life threatening, the ladies are raising money for ‘Womens’ Sport Trust’ and ‘Tree Aid’, which help to raise the profile of women in sport and to help plant over 1 million trees in Africa.
You can donate to both charities by visiting; http://www.thegreateskate.com/charity.html
