INSPIRATIONAL can be a word bandied around a bit too easily but there is no other way to describe Gareth Roberts.
Five years ago the Deiniolen man was given just weeks to live yet there he was last Friday, five years on preparing to march 75 miles to Chester from Caernarfon along the old Roman road in just three days to raise around £5000 for the British Heart Foundation and the Air Ambulance.
In between times he has survived a quadruple heart bypass, swapped careers to become an aerial photographer and fathered son Gwyn, his first child three years ago.
The 46 year old is also now the "fittest I have ever been", which is just as well, as covering 26 miles a day on foot is, well, no mean feat.
And that's where the inspirational part comes in again, as on Friday, at some ungodly time in the morning - 7.30am to be precise - Gareth had managed to persuade; cardiac patients on the verge of a major operation, actors, Alun Ffred Jones AM, friends, supporters and the Herald, actually me, to join him on route.
I joined in for the Caernarfon leg of the journey which takes around two hours, from the Segontium to the Gors Bach pub in Llanddeiniolen.
But as we set of so early there was no chance for a quick, refreshing pint, at my journey's end - thanks for that Gareth.
There around eight of us taking part for that stretch, marching through muddy fields in a typical Caernarfon summer morning - cloudy and wet.
As for the Roman "road" itself, all I can say is - it has seen better days, probably around AD 400 - the last time the Imperial Italians bothered filling in a pothole or two.
Apparently the road, or stretches of it, can be seen clearly from the air according to Gareth and he has photos to prove that.
On the ground it is a different story to the untrained eye.
I managed to make out parts of it running across a farmer's field and pointing in the direction of an Iron Age hill fort.
Gareth however marvelled at the living history running across his own backyard.
There was a glint in his eye as he described the number of people using the route around 1600 years and the ingenuity of the engineers in keeping it straight and pointing it at existing landmarks, just like that hill fort.
All I could see was a few old stones and a bit of a bump in the grass.
Then again If I hadn't had to get up so early in the morning I might have been more in touch with my historical side.
Although to be fair to Gareth I don't imagine in the year 3608 there will be many inspirational fundraising trips along the A55.
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