On the 22nd June 2014 the Auld Alliance 2014, a group of Inverness businessmen embark on a 10 day, marathon 1,000 mile cycle from Inverness to Ribagnac in the south of France. Colin MacLeod, Customer Training Officer at Highland Office Equipment (part of the Capital Group) will be joined by Chris Barnett, David MacDonald, Ross MacDonald, Ewan MacDonald, Michael MacRae, Colin Grave and Adrian Fawcett to make up the team.
Chris Barnett, Managing Director of The Roy Homes Group set up the Auld Alliance 2014 cycle run to raise funds for the Special Care Baby Unit at Raigmore Hospital, The Highland Hospice and Prostate Cancer UK.
Enthusiasm for the event has grown and Chris said “These guys are all very good friends of mine and were delighted to come together for such a life changing challenge. Taking on something of this magnitude should be a lot easier with the support of friends around you who are facing the same challenges.
“We have now been in training for 11 months and when we set off on June 22, we will cycle through Scotland, England, Holland, Belgium and France, finishing at Ribagnac, near Bergerac, in the south of France, where I have a home. To give you an idea of the challenge ahead, on day 1 we will be cycling from Inverness to Perth, which will be 125 miles of pain and will be further than any of us have done in a single day, never mind the almost 900 miles we will still have to go!”
Part of the training for the cycle has seen Colin take part in the Strathpuffer 24 hour mountain bike endurance event and the Nairnshire Challenge a 30 mile duathlon on foot and bike and the Etape Loch Ness 67 mile route.
The team have already held a fundraising night at the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness where they had a champagne reception and 3 course meal with after dinner speaker, Dominic Holland, with the evening rounded off with entertainment from John Rankin, where they raised an amazing sum of £27,000
With less than a month to go now the team have so far raised an incredible £31,710.
For more information on their progress follow them on Facebook and to donate please visit their money giving page.
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