On Sunday the 30th of November, we did something a little different here at Direct365, and sent 6 members of our staff down to London to take part in a x. Charlotte, Lauren, Gemma, Phil, Andy and Laurence teamed up with 4 other employees from PHS; Richard, Scott, Adam and Kerrie to form the 10 strong team; PHS North.
The 24 hour cycle challenge took place during Phillip Schofield’s 24 hour Text Santa programme on ITV, starting at 11AM, Monday 1st December and ending the same time on Tuesday. 32 teams in total took part in the event, two of which being ourselves and the PHS South team, all attempting to cycle as many miles, and raise as much money, as possible in 24 hours.
(Almost all) the PHS North and South Teams.
The money raised during the event was to be split equally between 6 different charities:
Alzheimer’s Society
Guide Dogs
Marie Curie Cancer Care
Teenage Cancer Trust
Together for Short Lives
WellChild
In total, we all managed to raise in excess of £80,000 throughout the event, with the PHS teams contributing over £15,000 to it. It is a real honour to support Together For Short Lives, and the other charities involved.
The bikes, before the event.
Charlotte at the front of ITV Studios.
From the off it was clear the pace was going to be much quicker than we initially imagined. When you think of a 24 hour cycling challenge, what comes to mind is pacing, endurance and sustenance. The reality of it was team going hell for leather on bikes, switching in short intervals to stop team members from burning out.
Andy and Gemma with blurred legs on their evening slot.
Taking on a 15 minute interval approach for the first few hours of the event worked well for Direct365 North, and seemed to be the desired tactic for most of the other teams, as the room never seemed to die down at all, and the atmosphere was ecstatic.
With the mammoth task ahead, the intensity of the day, and the lack of sleep we were bracing for, it was very much welcomed to receive little visits from various celebrities walking around the ITV studios. With motivational words of and plenty of selfies being taken at the back, it added a bit of energy to the room, especially as we crept late into the night.
John Barrowman stopped by to cheer the teams on, and grab some pictures
Kerry Katona stopping by and having a chat.
Rylan does his part to help reach target!
As we crept into the early hours of the morning, the amount of people in the room slowly decreased until it was only people cycling, or about to cycle, present. As the hours on the clock got smaller, the miles kept on racking up at the same pace. Our team, PHS North, at this point were tackling the challenge in two hour slots between 2 people, so that we could get some rest. This was a tactic that a lot of other teams seemed to be adopting, as fatigue started to set in.
Around 3am, more than halfway through the challenge
As it started to go light again outside, the room began to fill up with people returning for the last few hours of the challenge, and getting excited about the impending finish, which was now just a stones throw away.
Gemma keeping spirits high towards the end of the event
As Phillip Schofield came towards the end of his 24 hour TV marathon, we also came to the end of our ride. ITV’s This Morning arrived at around 10 to 11 to officially close the event with a brief countdown, ending it all with a chat to two teams – Homeserve and Axa, who had cycled the most miles, and the most combined miles and funds raised respectively.
Here’s to hoping there’s a next year!
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