Rochdale triathlete raises £1,800 for charity

Neil Knight, MedEquip4Kids’ mascot, Pip, Gill McKinnon, Christian Taylor, Chris Burrow and Mark Simmonds

A team of triathletes – including a man from Rochdale - have raised £1,800 for children’s charity, MedEquip4Kids.

Christian Taylor, who lives in Littleborough, Mark Simmons, Gill McKinnon and Neil Knight completed their own triathlon by participating in the BUPA Great North Run, Lancashire Loop Cycle Challenge and swam one-mile across Coniston Water.

The money raised in sponsorship was donated to MedEquip4Kids, which provides pediatric medical equipment and facilities for hospitals across the north of England to help ensure babies, children and teenagers receive the best possible care when sick or injured.

The group work together at Expro in Ulverston, Cumbria, and signed up for the triathlon through Mr Taylor, 28, who had previously raised money for MedEquip4Kids by participating in the 2009 British Gas Great North Swim.

Their triathlon had been due to begin in September when they were going to participate in the 2010 British Gas Great North Swim across Windermere. However, the swim was cancelled due to unsuitable swimming conditions. Undeterred, they swam the same distance in Coniston Water to stick to their triathlon commitment.

They then ran the world’s largest half marathon, the BUPA Great North Run, 13 miles from Newcastle to South Shields, followed by a 100-mile bike ride the week after in the MedEquip4Kids’ Lancashire Loop Cycle Challenge. For their final challenge, they were joined by colleague Chris Burrow.

The team presented their fundraising total to MedEquip4Kids’ Rachel Allen and charity mascot, Pip.

Mr Taylor said: “We all really enjoyed doing the triathlon, even though it was challenging at times. Doing it as part of a team helped us all as we supported and encouraged each other when the going got tough. The support from MedEquip4Kids was excellent and I would certainly think about doing something like this again in the future.”

Ms Allen added: “The team chose three of the toughest challenges possible so we are extremely grateful to them for their support and commitment to have trained for each of the three events and raised such a substantial amount of sponsorship.”