A Newtown woman is to take on the equivalent of 19 marathons in 19 days in memory of her husband.

Sheree McCormick, 54, will be joined by her six-year-old Weimaraner Ronnie on an epic challenge which will also include climbing Scotland, England and Wales’ tallest peaks for Homes for Veterans and The Brain Tumour Charity from Thursday, September 1.

Pete McCormick, described as an “awesome husband, proud dad and decorated veteran”, was diagnosed with a Grade Four brain tumour, also known as glioblastoma, in May 2020, months after he first experienced some memory loss, tiredness, and headaches. He sadly died 11 months later in April 2021, aged 57.

Sheree explained: “Pete was poorly for about six weeks and we couldn’t get any answers with GPs, and we had four consultations and they were adamant that Pete had a virus.

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"My husband was a high performer, but he could hardly talk. I thought this wasn’t a virus. In the end his sister, who is a nurse, told me that I knew Pete more than anybody and if he was not right I had to take him to A&E. Within an hour he was diagnosed with a mass on the brain, and he was taken to Stoke Hospital for emergency surgery.”

Almost 17 months since Pete died, sports psychologist Sheree is doing “something extraordinary” and is hoping to become the second woman to complete the challenge which will take her from Ben Nevis to Glasgow and then to the Lake District and Scafell Pike before heading to Liverpool and Birkenhead.

County Times: Sheree McCormick and her Weimeraner RonnieSheree McCormick and her Weimeraner Ronnie

Following the Wales Coast Path, Sheree and Ronnie will go to Llandudno then Bangor before heading towards the final leg to the peak of Snowdon.

“I want it to take me to places where it will change me. When you go through cancer your baseline changes and you are grateful for anything, it resets everything. I want the challenge to allow me the thinking time and to have nothing around me apart from thinking about Pete and thinking about how amazing life is.

“I want it to test me. I’ve taken so much from the outdoors through grief. Having the outdoors there has kept my heart open. I needed to do something quite dramatic.

“One of Pete’s one-liners was ‘life isn’t a spectator sport’. He would have been 110 per cent behind it. He would be driving the van. For him seeing somebody happy was the gift itself. After he’d died lots of people shared stories and experiences of Pete and he did touch a lot of people. He did these lovely things; they could be big things or small things whenever he saw an opportunity. He always used to say that love was a verb, it’s a doing word.”

Sheree added: “It is really good that we raise money in his name so that it feels that we’ve almost paid back the fundraising he always did.

“I’m in a good place with it. I’m ready to do it now. Ronnie hasn’t got a clue – but when he sees his backpack, he knows it’s a long walk and he loves it. He’ll just love being in the van. It’s so nice to be able to do it with him.”

Forces sweethearts Sheree and Pete met in the Army, received medals for serving in Northern Ireland The Troubles, moved to Australia where Pete joined the Australian Army before moving back to Wales with their children during the early 2000s.

“I always place a rose every fortnight at the Cenotaph," she added. "For Pete, Remembrance Day was a really important date in the calendar so that’s where I find some comfort down there.

“He lived for his family, and he was very proud of his kids. He was a lovely person. I remember when he passed, and it was such a beautiful passing.

“I was holding his hand and the last thing he said was that he had no regrets, and I told him me neither. It was such a lovely thing. I thought out of everything that is going on in your body and your mind at the minute to know that this is what you wanted to say was awesome.”

Sheree has nearly raised her £2,500 fundraising target for two charities close to the family’s heart. To support the Three Nations, Three Peaks challenge, visit www.justgiving.com/team/3nations3peaks.