Ray Poynter – Ray Poynter

Three-day Recce on the Pennine Way

Posted by Ray Poynter, June 4, 2022July 5, 2022

Last weekend I did a three day recce of the Pennine Way, from Hawes to Dufton, as part of my preparation for the Spine Race - which starts two weeks from now. On the Friday I took trains from Nottingham to Garsdale, a bus to Hawes, and started running. I didn't start running until about 1pm, so it was a shorter day, covering 27KM and climbing 1229 metres. I spent the night outside the Tan Hill Inn (the highest pub in the UK). I had a bivvy bag, sleeping bag and mat with me - you can see my green bag in front of the green tent. It was fun sleeping in the bivvy bag, but it was not a great night's sleep. Dinner was in the pub :-)

Back in the Hiking Groove

Posted by Ray Poynter, August 8, 2015June 14, 2022

As I type this I am sitting in my room in the George Hotel in Hathersage, tired but happy. The hike from Cromford to Hathersage was 41.7 kilometres, which is almost exactly 25 miles. It was not a fast walk, with heat, a rucksack, plenty of hills and a stop for food, indeed the walk took me just over 11 hours. But, the key thing is that I feel that I am back in the groove.

Getting back to hiking, a trip to the Peak District

Posted by Ray Poynter, August 7, 2015June 14, 2022

I have just come back from four months in Japan and one of the things I did whilst I was there was a couple of nice hikes near Mt Takao. This reminded me that a) I really like hiking and b) I have not done much hiking for years, especially point-to-point hiking with my kit on my back. So, this weekend I have set out to rediscover hiking and to revisit the area where my love of hiking was honed as a teenager, in the Derbyshire Peak District.

The journey to Japan starts

Posted by Ray Poynter, June 29, 2014June 14, 2022

My 24 hour journey (a 13 hour flight to Singapore, a 2 hour layover, a 7 hour flight to Tokyo, and then 2 hours of immigration and travel into Tokyo) starts with breakfast in the Singapore Airlines lounge, a benefit of being a Singapore Airlines regular flyer. Breakfast included a bacon roll, probably my last taste of ‘proper’ bacon until the middle of August – for the next six weeks, when bacon is on offer, it will be in the US style, thin strips without the meat part. In so many ways Singapore are my favourite airline, so I hope everything lives up to my expectations. The bad news is that the plane sounds like it is going to be very full. I have aisle seats on both legs (seat 59D on both legs – I often try to choose the same seat number, but for no real reason, just seems right), but it sounds like I won’t have the luxury of an empty seat next to me.

Off to study Japanese

Posted by Ray Poynter, June 28, 2014June 14, 2022

I am on my way to Tokyo to spend a month studying Japanese. I have an apartment booked for one month and I meet my tutor on Thursday. How will it go? Well, my optimism is high, but over the last 57 years I have not shown any aptitude for languages, so my optimism has to be tempered with some realism/concern. Tonight I am stopping at the Yotel at Heathrow, as I am flying Sunday morning, and getting from Nottingham to Heathrow on a Sunday morning is quite a problem. The Yotel is probably quite a nice foretaste of Japan as it is a capsule hotel, something we often associate with Japan. My room is about 2 metres by three metres and has a bed, a desk, an area to get changed, a toilet, shower, and sink. The internet is free as are coffee and tea. The bed is interesting, the good news is that it is comfortable, but the interesting thing is that my bed is over the bed in next cabin (in the picture you can see I step up to my bed, so the bed in the next Cabin will effectively be underneath me. As well as meeting my needs really well, the Yotel is great value (by UK standards), tonight is costing me £71.

Boxing Day Pie, one of my joys at Christmas

Posted by Ray Poynter, December 31, 2013June 14, 2022

For the last decade or more, Christmas Day at the Poynter household has had a special treat to follow it, Boxing Day Pie. Our pie is a combination of family bonding, tradition, and yummy eating. So, what is Boxing Day Pie? We take everything, well almost everything, left unserved from Christmas Day dinner and we […]

My first 100KM Run

Posted by Ray Poynter, May 31, 2013June 14, 2022

Last Saturday (May 25, 2013) I took part in my first 100KM race (the London to Brighton Challenge), raising money for the breast awareness charity CoppaFeel! (more on the charity later, but you can donate via my JustGiving page). Last summer I walked 100KM in the Oxfam Trailwalk and I ran in an 80KM race […]

Australia’s Toughest Marathon?

Posted by Ray Poynter, May 3, 2013June 14, 2022

At the end of May I am running a 100KM race, the London to Brighton Challenge (to raise money for the CoppaFeel breast cancer awareness charity), if you’d like to sponsor me, please visit my JustGiving page. Although I have run an 80KM race before, this will be my first 100KM, and it requires a fair bit of training and ideally mini-goals along the way. One of my challenges, in terms of my training schedule, was that April was a heavy travel month for me, with conferences and meetings in Vietnam, Japan, and Australia – so I was on the lookout for a goal in Australia to add focus to my training.

Running 100K and hoping to raise £1000 for charity

Posted by Ray Poynter, March 7, 2013June 14, 2022

On May 25th I am aiming to raise money for a great breast cancer awareness charity called CoppaFeel by running 100KM (about 62.5 miles) from London to Brighton, in under 15 hours, as part of the London to Brighton Challenge.

Running the Saints Way for Coppafeel

Posted by Ray Poynter, August 3, 2011June 14, 2022

Every year I like to set myself a physical challenge and I like to utilise that challenge to raise money for charity. This year I am going to run the Saints Ways in Cornwall, from Padstow on the North coast of Cornwall to Fowey on the South Coast. We are still tweaking the route but it is likely to be just under 30 miles (about 48 KM).