Epic cycling challenge for charity (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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250 miles cycled in 24 hours for cancer cause
11:00am Wednesday 29th August 2012 in Local By Gazette reporter
The team minus John Costello
FIVE saddlesore employees from the Basingstoke branch of Marks and Spencer have taken part in a company cycling marathon.
They joined 660 employees from around Britain and Ireland in cycling 60,000 miles in 24 hours in aid of charities.
John Costello, Lewis Gidden, Simon Paul, Guy Bartlett and James Kelly all took part in the biggest charity endurance challenge yet held by M&S. The Bike 400 Cycle Challenge helped M&S move further towards its goal of raising more than £1 million pounds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Action Cancer in Northern Ireland, and the Marie Keating Foundation in the Republic of Ireland.
The unique fundraising challenge took place at the Prodrive Race Track in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, and saw M&S volunteers take part in a Le Mans-inspired 24-hour endurance event.
Employees competed in teams of four, with each cyclist individually peddling for six hours.
The Basingstoke team managed to cycle 290 miles between them, already raising over £1,500 in the Basingstoke store alone. But one of the brave M&S employees went a step further - taking part in his own 24-hour cycle.
John Costello was one of only four employees throughout the country to achieve this feat, cycling just under 250 miles by himself.
John said: “It was a great experience to be part of this challenge for such a worthwhile cause. Knowing that the whole of M&S were behind us was great motivation to help get across that finish line.”
Store Manager Guy Bartlett was keen to praise his colleagues as well as thank the customers of Basingstoke. He said: “We are proud of our colleagues from across the country who took part in the gruelling Bike 400 Cycle Challenge and we want to say a big thank you to our customers in Basingstoke who have helped us make a great start towards the £1 million target for three worthwhile charities.”
Fundraising activities are still taking place in all M&S stores across the country up until Friday, and you can donate on the cyclists’ Just Giving page at justgiving.com/teams/BIKE400EnduranceChallenge.
