New Brighton RNLI Hovercraft

I’m running the Liverpool Marathon on 9th October this year. I’m raising money for the RNLI and you can donate on Just Giving. I hope to raise over Â£1,000.

As part of my fundraising I plan to document the people I’m hoping the help, namely the New Brighton RNLI. Over the coming weeks I’ll be profiling the team and documenting their work. On Sunday I met the crew of the hovercraft who were: James Davis, Andy Liston, Simon Clithero, and Paul Wright who commanded the hovercraft.

I’m currently on week 10 of my training. On Sunday I ran 15 miles and it hit me hard. I did a 1 mile cool down walk back home and I honestly thought I would feint. I didn’t think I’d make it home. I got in and weighed myself. I had lost half a stone in water loss. I put my legs up to reduce the lactic acid for a bit. My hands and face had pins and needles and my stomach was like someone was sitting on it. I couldn’t catch my breath at all. After about half an hour I threw up and was finally able to catch my breath. The pins and needles eventually subsided. It was a real wakeup call to what I’m trying to do. For the first time in nearly 2 years I really feel like I’m pushing my body, and it feels like it’s fighting back.

The RNLI’s New Brighton hovercraft station.

Two members of the RNLI prep the hovercraft for a morning training run.

Two members of the RNLI prep the hovercraft for a morning training run.

The RNLI hovercraft is ready for launch.

It’s not an easy procedure to launch the hovercraft due to wind. The crew have to guide it down onto the beach.

The hovercraft reaches the entry point to the beach.

It’s quite a sight seeing a hovercraft move around the beach at New Brighton. A lot of people stopped to watch.

The hovercraft is properly inflated and powers up for a spin around the beach.

I was lucky enough to be invited on board the hovercraft. It was an incredibly smooth ride.

It was a beautiful sunny morning for the RNLI crew to train with the hovercraft.

Members of the hovercraft crew in their gear.

The hovercraft heads off towards Hoylake for a training mission.