AK trustee sets a new world record! The famous challenge of Lands’ End to John O’Groats has a new world record holder! This gruelling challenge, also known as LEJOG, involves cycling 874 miles from Cornwall to the top of mainland Scotland. The now previous world record for a triple tandem was set at around 6.5 days; however, Simon Nasta, along with friends Graeme and Dan, have just completed the fastest ever cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats on a triple tandem. What an incredible achievement! To put this into perspective, this is like cycling from London to Barcelona, or even London to Milan! And of course, cycling from the south to the north is up hill…so its even harder! They completed LEJOG in just 4 Days, 7 Hours, 35 Minutes and 38 Seconds (not that we were timing too closely…) This meant they were averaging 200 miles a day – what an incredible effort! Nasta recalled: “The highlight was the support we got across the country from people giving us claps, friendly honking and cheering. It was a real boost which kept us going.” When asked if he would take on the challenge again, Nasta said: “Never.” “It was brutal and triplet tandem riding is not the safest. We blew out four tyres which was not fun at speed.” If we are honest though, this amazing feat is no surprise to the Alive and Kicking team. Over the years, Simon, now a Trustee of the Charity, has completed several crazy challenges to raise both awareness and funding for Alive and Kicking. This time around he has not only broken a world record, but he has also raised over £11,000 to support our work which makes the achievement even more special. From all at Alive and Kicking, we would like to thank Simon, Graeme and Dan for their brilliant efforts and look forward to seeing what record they break next. To find out more about the challenge and to donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/lejogtriple Grasshoppers Sesquicentenary Golf Day There was another impressive milestone in the North West as Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club celebrated their 150 year anniversary – and used the occasion to raise funds for charity! 30 teams of four competed on an immaculate course in the best weather of the week and raised almost £4,000 thanks to the generous support of a host of club, local and individual sponsors. Alive and Kicking are delighted and grateful to have been included in the recipients receiving an outstanding £1,700 donation, alongside St Catherine’s Hospice and The Alzheimer’s Society. The winning team were Susan and Roger Hetherington, Emy and Phil Aceret- Burgess of Wilpshire Golf Club shown below on the 1st tee with President Keith Brierley resplendent in suitably festive attire and concentrating on holding onto the Alive and Kicking Sesquicentenary commemorative rugby ball. We’d like to say a massive thank you to PGRFC, all of the participants in the golf day, and especially to the organising committee that made it all possible after previous attempts were thwarted by lockdowns and restriction. Thank you to Keith Aitchison, Dick Greenwood, Max Horton, Paul Carroll, Ian McFarlane all pictured below at the event. Good luck for the new season Hoppers! Want to raise funds for AK? There are loads of different ways you can support our work whether it’s running your own event, taking on a challenge or joining AKFC. If you’re partial to a game of golf yourself, there are still spaces available at the biennial AK Golf Day on 16th September at North Wilts Golf Course, Devizes. For more information, please click here.
