As some of you will know, Ben Wickham, a very close friend of mine from university sadly died last year, at the age of 37. He left behind a wife and young family. Winstons wish support exactly this situation and support young families that have had to deal with some of the crap that life throws at you.

Rather than the usual single event I seem to have stupidly managed to get myself involved in 3 extreme events all which I hope you agree are worthy of sponsorship in their own right but I know how much we all get asked for all the time so I thought I would lump them all together and make one big ask.

We have a joint team target of £10k and we still have a long way to go so all donations are gratefully received.

So what are the 3 events

BOX:

 I embarked on a journey called zero to hero which takes losers like me on a 10 week intensive training programme culminating in a ring fight at Reading Rivermead in front of a couple of thousand fans and recorded / televised. The fight is on the 3 May and I have 10 weeks to prepare mentally and physically. You can see my progress at http://www.zerotoheroboxing.com or on facebook. You can also buy tickets for the fight if you want to come along and support me.

CYCLE:

Ben's sister Lorna has arranged and organised a 'straight-forward' and 'short' cycling event to commemorate Ben, and to raise money in his name. Myself and some others will be attempting this challenge in June this year.

How hard can it be? Well, to give you some statistics, 'Biking for Ben' will cover just over 650km over 6 days whilst climbing a total of 10km and spending well over 40 hours in the saddle.  All of the Cols (Mountains!) we will climb have featured in the Tour de France including the very famous Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aubisque and Col d’ Aspin, the three most used Cols in the 100 year history of the race.  In fact, for those who were watching last year, our route includes Stage 9 (Saint Girons to Bagneres-de-Bigorre) all but for the final climb.

Biking for Ben will start on Sunday 22nd June 2014 just outside Biarritz on the West coast of France and finish on Friday 27th June, just past Perpignan on the East Coast.

HALF IRON

In July I’m taking part in Marlow half ironman on my journey to ironman.

http://www.f3events.co.uk/general/maxifuel-half-iron-distance-triathlon-marlow

1900m Thames River Swim

84Km on the bike

20km Run

Nuff said – pain city!

Many of you have been very generous in the past when I've done charity rides etc, but I think it's fair to say that this is in a slightly different league! As such, if you can, your sponsorship once more would be very much appreciated. I won't ask for sponsorship for any other events in 2014 - promise!

Many many thanks for all your support and wish me luck!!

Sparky

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.