SJ_Skyline

Folks,

Some of you know that I've competed in the odd adventure race for charity. This year will be the third year in a row I'll be leading a team into the Microsoft UK Challenge. This is a gruelling race over 4 days and nights involving running, mountain bikeing, canoeing and problem solving.

Over the last two years I've managed to raise in excess of £5000 for the NSPCC. Together, the 125 teams that compete in this event raise in the region of £500,000 for the NSPCC EVERY year.

I've done quite well over the last two years coming 18th in 2005 and 12th in 2006. If it hadn't been for the 2 hour penalty received it would have been 5th in 2006 which would have seen me & the team qualify for the World team challenge which was held in Malta.

Please help me help the NSPCC. If you can spare £10 to sponsor me, this goes directly to the NSPCC to help them help vulnerable children. Running 26 miles without stopping is one thing, seeing some of the cases that the NSPCC have to work puts the whole thing into perspective: Beaten children, children that have had cigarettes stubbed out on them... I could go on, the important thing is that the money I and others raise through this competition goes directly to help stop these sorts of things from happening.

Please visit Microsoft UK Challenge and sponsor Team #90 - LogicaCMG Financial Services or just select my name from the list: Richard Belsey. If you are a UK tax payer then the is also the option to allow the VAT to be claimed back so the NSPCC win. There's also the option to sponsor us for a top X position but be warned - we're no slouches!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you do choose to sponsor me, you are helping us to make a difference for the better.

Rich

Lee247

Done
Good Luck

SJ_Skyline

Thank you 84!


I found out last week: Last year the NSPCC took over the running of Childline. At the time, Childline had funding for only TWO weeks! This service is funded entirely by donation, not a penny of government money goes towards it.

Just £3 funds the 0800 number for a child's call.

DCI Gene Hunt

Done

Now listen up SJ, that's my pub money.... so I expect you all to run your bollcoks off

DCI Gene Hunt

SJ_Skyline

Nice one mate

You can expect them to be run off on the first day, stitched back on after the night navigation and then run off again!

DCI Gene Hunt

"Night navigation".... doesn't sound very manly .... but either way good luck Dorothy

STi-Frenchie

Done. Good on you Richard and good luck with the challenge

moses

hey bros just noticed

im in

SJ_Skyline

Thanks guys - that's realy kind of you!

The training is going well, 10 mile (16km) run yesterday morning: 1 hour 35 minutes

salsa-king

sponsorship done , when is the race?

scoob_babe

Its the penultimate week of June - 4 days of peace and quiet for me again - that's the plan anyway (didn't quite work out last year).

SJ_Skyline

Cheers Phil!

The race starts on 20th June and ends some time on the 23rd.

I spent last weekend on a practice race (only 48 hours) around the Peak District with 30 of the other teams taking part - about 140 people in total. I managed a total of about 6 hours sleep during the race, no idea how far I ran and biked but I was wearing my HRM and it reckons I burned off just under 10,000 calories - I lost 4lbs body weight over the weekend

We finished 7th overall which was pretty good considering half my team were newbies to this sort of thing.

SJ_Skyline

Just a quick update here, we've passed the halfway mark to the £3000 we've pledged to raise so a massive thank you to everybody here who has put their hand in their pocket.

Last weekend, ChrisB and myself took part in the 2nd Questars adventure race this year which included 5 hours of running, mountain biking and canoe around the Brecon Beacons. We finished 6th in class but are currently the top team in our class for the 2007 series. Unfortunately next year it looks like we will be forced to take part in the masters category which has more time to run but much harsher penalties.

Less than two weeks to go until the main event, the team are all keen to get on. I'm keen to get in one piece to the finish line this year.

Thanks once again

SJ_Skyline

All done for another year

The team came 28th which is still a fine achievement considering the mountain biking stages had knee deep mud in places and the biking on the final stage had to be abandonned as so many bikes had been destroyed in the other stages!

Thanks to everybody here that sponsored us. So far the running total is over £340,000!

So who won? AWE! - Yes, that's the organisation that PSL claims he works for

Maybe next year, eh?

Thanks once again!