John Harris Paralympian - Kilimanjaro Challenge

No doubt some of the blog readers will know John, but many won't, so I thought it might be a good idea to introduce him. Hopefully, you will understand why 'doing' Kilimanjaro presents such a huge challenge.

Aged just 18, John fell 40ft from a fairground ride and broke his back, despite the best attempts of an on-looker to catch him. An active young man who loved his sport, John understandably took the news very badly, and after the initial hospitalisation, he sought to drown his sorrows for the next three years. That is when a friend got hold of him and convinced him to start training again. John has never looked back!

Fondly nicknamed 'Handsome Harris', John re-discovered who he was and what he was about - a Paralympian athlete, fund raiser and inspirational speaker developed. Gritty, rugged and determined, this is a man who can do anything he puts his mind to. He's a straight, down to earth talker, with a boyish charm and natural whit.

John went on to compete in five Paralympic Games, winning Gold in the discus in 1984 and Silver and Bronze in the discus and pentathlon four years later. At the 1984 Paralympic Games at Stoke Mandeville, John was also awarded the honour of giving the athletes oath, an accolade that was special to him at the time and remains so today.

Outside of competing John has given inspirational talks in a wide range of forums, from primary schools through to international conferences and events, and with thirty years experience under his belt, he still captures audiences today. You can find out more about John as an inspirational speaker at www.pjs-speakers.co.uk 

John has also committed a lot of his time and energy to fundraising and supporting worthy causes, most notably in doing two wheelchair pushes around Wales, when he raised money to improve sporting facilities for disabled athletes.

If you talk to someone who knows John, the word 'inspirational', wont be too far away. He has touched many people's lives, and each and every one of them remember him. One of the reasons we have set up this blog, is because John hopes lots of children and students will read it and share this experience with him, learning that life can be about what you can do, and are good at, not what you can't do.


This is John's 49th year in a wheelchair, and he has maintained a disciplined fitness routine that has helped him maintain good health, great pecs and huge arms. Without that lifelong attitude to training, fitness and well-being, John would not even be able to contemplate the challenge of Kilimanjaro. Even with that background, this is still daunting, and John knows it's going to be tough.

"I'd rather try and do this for myself and for the Dreams and Wishes Charity and die on the mountainside, that sit on my backside wasting away," he says, in his usual down to earth manner.

In the 49 years since his accident John has pushed for thousands of miles, but that has all been road work. Kilimanjaro is an entirely different challenge. "This is going to be hellishly tough, I know that, and it frightens me to be honest, but I always look for the next challenge, and this is it. Now I'm committed, I'm going to give it everything I have got."

John will be 68 in October when his party challenge Kilimanjaro. A couple of people have done it before in a wheelchair, and a couple of 68 year olds have got to the top, but we have been unable to find details of anyone that combined the two. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Tanzania, the highest mountain in Africa, and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It stands at 5.895 metres or 19,341 feet above sea level and it will take John six or seven days to reach the summit.

Unlike pushing on flat roads and paths, going up is much more difficult in a wheelchair. John will need to push constantly, on terrain that is far from ideal for a wheelchair. He will also have the added complication of thinning air, and the body having to deal with less oxygen at a time when his muscles will be craving for more. John is expecting the intensity of the effort to be more challenging than anything he has experienced before, and he knows that this is something he should have done in his 20s rather then approaching his 70s, but that wont stop him trying.

If you want to know anything more about John, or the challenge, let us know, and we'll try to cover it in the blog. John wants to share this with his readers, so the more questions and comments the better.

If you would like to discuss a sponsorship opportunity for John's Kilimanjaro Challenge please email Simon at simondeacy@pjs-speakers.co.uk or telephone 01600 729180.

You can also make a donation to John's Kilimanjaro Challenge through the Just Giving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fullcircleltd/

Kilimanjaro Team Training 28th April

"Pushing for miles on the roads and pavements, can be tough. Off road, on rough terrain with steep climbs and drops, is pretty gruelling," said John, at the end of another intensive three hour push in South Wales this morning.

Handsome Harris

We set out at 8.30am on a dank and cold Spring morning, John Harris doing a great impression of a bank robber along with some of the other members of his Kilimanjaro Charity Challenge team mates. John was still using an old light but general use wheelchair, with small front wheels and slick (no tread) big wheels - far from ideal for any off-road terrain.

Marc Eckley, John Harris & Simon Deacy

As ever, John is chirpy and looking forward to 'a great push', as though this is just another day at the office. The rest of us are a little more circumspect. As we set out at John's sensible pace, Marc Eckley, the man behind the challenge, tells us of the home made thank-you card he had received on Friday when visiting a very poorly little boy in hospital. Marc had built a treehouse for the little boy following the intervention of the Dreams and Wishes Children's Charity. We were all touched by the story, and this was another example of why we were doing Kilimanjaro.

A few minutes into today's trek and we were crossing a wooden slatted bridge over the River Wye. For the walkers, it presented no problem at all, but for John the one inch change in levels, required a lot of attention, otherwise he was likely to snag the front wheels and find himself propelled out of the chair.

We then hit a lot of mixed terrain, mud, stones, shale, grass and some hard 1km rises. The effort John makes, with slippery wheels and wet hands is phenomenal, and he puts that power down for prolonged periods of time. If John was still a young man, you might been left in awe, at 67, his efforts are simply remarkable.

On the steeper inclines, on difficult terrain, we take it in turns to help John climb. It's backbreaking and lung bursting after a couple of hundred metres, but we know this is the type of training we need in preparation for the trials of Mount Kilimanjaro. The front wheels snag a lot, bringing the wheelchair to a lurching halt, but whereas John had ended out of the chair every time this has happened in the past, we manage to keep him and the wheelchair intact throughout the whole trek.

Ever Smiling

The wonderful thing about doing this type of training with John, is that you get to hear one of the great storytellers in action, hour after hour. He smiles throughout the whole trek, and his recovery rate given his age, puts much younger men to shame.

Towards the end of the trek, even the de-fatiguable, 'Handsome' John Harris admits that his pecs and shoulders are aching. A trek of around 6k, with plenty of climbs, this has been another excellent test for all concerned and we all learned a bit more about each other.

Putting in a huge effort!

Back at our starting point, we catch a quick coffee to catch our breath and arrange the next training trek.  Quickly cleaned up and in fresh clothes, John is back on top form within minutes, and whilst everybody else looks as though they could do with a quick doze, John seems ready to start all over again. "Anybody would think you lot worked hard," he chortled.

A well deserved bite of lunch

It's some jabs for John and Deb his girlfriend, on Wednesday, and then more training next weekend, but in the meantime, we'll try and introduce you to the rest of the team too.

You can send a donation to support John's Charity Challenge through the Just Giving Page at : https://www.justgiving.com/fullcircleltd/

Pre-Training for Kilimanjaro

Preparations are going great - with one exception - John hasn't yet found a wheelchair that he is comfortable with and which is suitable for the challenge Kilimanjaro presents.

We've had three bigger team training runs so far, but the elongated winter made some of those events harder than they would ordinarily have been. Whilst John has been 'in training' almost continually for the last 45 years, he hasn't done much off road training, so this whole experience so far has been a journey of discovery - for him and us.

Tomorrow morning we are returning to the first team training venue at Tintern Abbey. It's not high, but it is rough and rugged, and this time we are taking a camera!! Last time we did this particular run, it felt as though John spent more time out of his wheelchair than in it - and not one of those occasions was planned! If the front wheels dug in, John was out, and not particularly gracefully at that. After fits of him giggling he was back in, and off we went again.

If we are learning anything from this training, tomorrow should be a little more comfortable for all concerned.

The support so far has been fantastic, with plenty of links to school and college programmes and business sponsorship. John is making himself available to do talks in schools and colleges in return for fundraising support through non-uniformed days, bag packing or other fundraising plans, and John hopes that thousands of students will follow his progress and support what he is seeking to achieve.

We start bright and early at 8.30 in the morning, and this time around we'll try and keep John ejections from the wheelchair in single figures.

If you would like to support John by making a donation, you can do so by going to - https://www.justgiving.com/fullcircleltd/

John Harris' Wheelchair Climb of Kilimanjaro

Five times Paralympian John Harris, broke his back aged just 18. In October 2013, fifty years on, he will be attempting to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro, all in aid of charity.

With his business partner from PJS Speakers, Simon Deacy OBE and friend and team leader from Fullcircle Facilities Management, Marc Eckley, John will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of the FullCircle Foundation and the Dreams and Wishes Charity.

Simon Deacy will run the blog, inviting readers to join John on his epic journey, from the early training sessions that are already underway, all the way through to completion of the trek.

"Dreams and Wishes is a fantastic charity, helping seriously ill children and their families, and it is an honour to undertake what will be an incredibly tough challenge, to help them," John said. "I have visited some of the children they support, and every smile and thank you card, makes my efforts and the rest of the team worthwhile. These children and their families deserve everything we can do for them."

We hope you enjoy the blog, and if you want John to speak to a group about this challenge, please drop Simon a line at simondeacy@pjs-speakers.co.uk

We are also interested in hearing from businesses and organisations who might like to sponsor John and his wheelchair challenge.

If you would like to support John by making a donation, you can do so by going to - https://www.justgiving.com/fullcircleltd/