Richard Rankin, CEO and Roger Blake, Group Accountant also undertook the Race to the Base challenge and completed this in March 2021.
Roger undertook the challenge on his bike and Richard ran it – with weather challenges and work commitments it was a tough challenge to complete the distance in the allotted time but they did it!!
Commenting on the final surge of rides to complete his challenge, Roger remarked “following on from what was pretty awful weather at the weekend, what had become a regular Sunday morning ride was abandoned before it had even started, with my son and I declaring that the experience would have been “hideously unpleasant”, I was on the back foot in terms of trying to reach my 200 mile target for the month. Later that day I braved the weather and managed to make it the 10yards to the bike shed and back to bring a bike in and, a couple of turbo sessions later, on Sunday & Monday night my target I thought and hoped was within one evening’s ride after work. The weather duly obliged and Tuesday at 5:05pm I was on the bike and by 7:15, just as the light was started to fade, and 31 miles later I had managed to achieve my 200-mile target! Shower, bit of dinner and a beer in celebration! The regular riding has improved my fitness, which had definitely taken a hit during the last 12 months, with not being able to travel around the country; in the last few years most of my cycling has been spread around UK and parts of Northern Europe, so I’ve rediscovered some of the local roads and scenery in the Solway which has been fantastic. I wonder whether on the relaxing of the restrictions I’ll still have time for this...”
And Richard commented: “I hit the target of 130 by running the Ullswater way with my wife on Tuesday (her birthday choice) which was nearly 20 miles. To be fair it is an amazing run and the weather was very kind; it started off with low cloud and cold but quickly cleared into blue skies and a glorious day – although with the previous amount of rainfall the lake was significantly higher than normal which necessitated pretty much running through it on several occasions. A very quick dip in the lake followed after we finished, at around 5 degrees we did not hang around as all feeling started to disappear in every limb! But once we’d stopped shivering a celebratory beer was had on the lake shore.”
Thanks to everyone who has sponsored Richard and Roger – together they raised over £300 for the Great North Air Ambulance pot which is amazing!