The team helping Freddie out of his pack at the finish of last year's Doddie challenge

Charity Challenge

Everest for Doddie Mark 2

Friday 9 to Sunday 11 April 2027 · Brecon Beacons

Lewis Moody's playing weight, 103kg, carried the height of Everest. Twenty laps of Pen y Fan, shared across a team, for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

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8,849m

Of climbing, the height of Everest

Laps of Pen y Fan

128km

Up and down, in all

103kg

Carried the whole way

Why we are doing it

A tribute to Lewis Moody.

“I have never been personally affected by MND, but I think it is one of the cruellest diseases there is, for what it takes away from you. It does not get nearly enough funding, so progress towards a cure is far too slow.

I have watched and admired Lewis Moody for most of my life, and when I heard he had been diagnosed it felt weirdly close to home. He is a real hero of mine, as I am sure he is for most English rugby fans. This challenge is a tribute to him.

I thank my lucky stars every day that I can use my body to do all the things I want to do, and I never take that for granted. I am 100% sure that anyone with MND would do this challenge 1,000 times over if it meant they could live free of the disease.”

Freddie, founder of Jove Club

Freddie in his My Name'5 Doddie Foundation shirt, holding the board with last year's total

The challenge

103kg, the height of Everest.

103kg is what we believe Lewis Moody weighed in his playing prime in the back row for England. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in October 2025. We are carrying his weight, all of it, up and down Pen y Fan until we have climbed the height of Everest. Think of it as a backyard ultra, with weight.

We start on Friday 9 April and finish on Sunday 11 April. Every lap starts at the Pont ar Daf car park: 3.2km and around 450 metres of climbing to the summit, then back down the same way. At 2 to 3 hours a lap, twenty laps is 40 to 60 hours of work. A lot of it will be in the dark, some of it will be cold and wet, and all of it will be hard. It has to be. The weight we carry is nothing next to the burden of living with MND.

Nobody can carry 103kg up a mountain on their own, so it is split across the team. This is not about what one person can do physically. It is about raising money, and a team can raise far more than Freddie ever could alone.

Three of the team walking towards the Pen y Fan ridge in the Brecon Beacons

Freddie

21kg

A fifth of it, for all 20 laps

10 of you

8kg each

The other 82kg, shared

20 of you

4kg each

The bigger the team, the lighter the share

Last year's challenge, August 2025

Last year: Everest in box step ups.

These photos are from last year's challenge for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, in August 2025. Freddie climbed the height of Everest in box step ups in a London park: 17,402 of them on one box with a 50lb pack, starting at 5:58am on the Friday and finishing under the park lights on the Saturday night, with a team keeping him going to the end. This year it is a mountain, and roughly four times the weight.

Freddie at the box in his kitchen before dawn, the board showing 700 step ups done

Freddie taking a drink between sets in the kitchen, 1,000 step ups on the board

Freddie stepping up onto the box in the kitchen with his pack on

Freddie stepping up in the park beside the Jove Club flag

Freddie stepping up onto a box with a weighted pack on

A small dog checking out the box mid step up

Freddie mid step up under the plane trees, a friend watching

Freddie with two of the team by the Jove Club flag

Freddie stepping up as a friend keeps him company

Freddie taking a seat for a break next to a friend

Freddie with his arm round a friend who came down

Freddie with a friend in the evening light

Freddie with another friend who came to support

Freddie still going at the box as the sun goes down

The team lined up together at dusk on the first night

Freddie resting late on the first night in his Doddie vest

Freddie back on the box in the park on the second day

Freddie stepping up with the team chatting round him

Freddie grinning as a friend arrives with his pack on

Freddie and a friend arm in arm, both smiling

The team gathered round the box on the second afternoon

Freddie looking back at the crowd that has come out

The team lined up in the park in daylight

Freddie holding the board showing 17,402 step ups

Freddie with a friend, both in running kit

Friends sitting on a picnic blanket cheering on

The team settled in on the grass round the flag

Freddie and a friend running along the river with packs on

A group running together along a park avenue

The team cheering Freddie on along the avenue

Freddie running with the team, a friend alongside on a bike

The team busy at the box, kit spread out on a blanket

Freddie taking a drink on the move in his Doddie vest

The team round the table as the park lights come on

The team gathered under the street lights at dusk

Freddie and the team sharing a drink in the dark

Freddie with his hands on his head, nearly there

The team running in behind the Jove Club banner at night

The team helping Freddie take his pack off at the finish

Freddie with his arms up at the finish, the team cheering round him

Freddie lifting his pack over his head at the finish

Freddie surrounded by friends after finishing

Freddie hugging friends as the night goes on

Freddie sitting down with a pint after finishing

Freddie with a pint and two friends afterwards

Freddie with friends round the table at the end of the night

The charity

My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

My Name'5 Doddie Foundation was set up by the Scotland lock Doddie Weir in 2017, the year after his own MND diagnosis. He died in 2022, aged 52. The foundation funds research into treating MND and supports people living with it. The 5 is the shirt number he wore. The foundation has one vision: a world free of MND.

Everyone on the team has their own JustGiving page, linked to one team page, and every donation is made on JustGiving to the foundation. Jove Club never handles any of it, and nobody is paying us anything for this.

Team target

£10,000

My Name'5 Doddie Foundation is registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator, number SC047871.

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Questions

Before you sign up.

Do I have to carry weight?+

If you are on the carrying team, yes, that is the challenge. How much depends on how many of us there are, because the 103kg is being divided up, not added to. With 10 people it is about 8kg each, with 20 about 4kg. We will confirm the loads once the team is set.

Does it cost anything?+

No. Jove Club is not charging anyone for this. You cover your own travel and kit, and the money you raise goes to the charity, not to us.

Do I have to fundraise?+

Yes, it is the reason this exists. You set up your own JustGiving page, link it to the team page, and we will help you with what to say. The team target is £10,000.

Why 20 laps?+

Each lap from the Pont ar Daf car park is about 452 metres of climbing on OS Maps. Twenty laps comes to around 9,040 metres, which clears Everest's 8,849 with some to spare.

How hard is Pen y Fan?+

From Pont ar Daf it is 3.2km and about 450 metres to the 886m summit on a wide stone path, then the same back down. One lap is within reach of most fit people. Twenty with a weighted pack, day and night, in whatever the weather does, is a different thing altogether.

Join the team

Help carry the weight.

You will need to be fit, able to deal with whatever the mountain gives us, and willing to fundraise. Leave your details and Freddie will be in touch to make a plan. If this year goes well, the plan is to make it bigger in the future, so you would be in at the start.