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**SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUR PROGRESS**

Hi and thanks for visiting our web page.

From the 1st to the 31st January 2007 we are attempting to cover the distance from Basra (where we are currently located), to Brawdy (our Regiment in Wales) by use of the bike, treadmill and rowing machine in our gym. At a distance of 4844km between a maximum of 8 of us this is a difficult task. Add to this the long hours and the hostile environment we are in and this is a giant challenge, but one we are determined to complete.

The charity we are representing is 'Get Kids Going.' They are a national charity which gives disabled children and young people the opportunity of participating in sport as well as ensuring disabled children receive the best care and assistance  they desperately need.

Please give generously and check for regular updates on our progress.

Thanks

Ali, Gregor, Steve, Scotty, Chicken, Jase and Morge.

1st Jan - Got off to a cracking start despite there only being 5 of us.  Gregor is still back home finishing off the mince pies and Jase has yet to arrive and find out he's doing this challenge. Anyway! Between the 5 of us (Ali, Steve, Chicken, Morge and Scott) we manged to clock up 165km, 10km ahead of target. Question is, "are we at a winning pace or does slow and steady win the race?" Keep tuning in to find out!

5th Jan - CRISIS! Well it wouldn't be a challenge if we didn't have to cross some hurdles and we have certainly had our fair share of them at such an early stage of the game. With Ali being away on a business trip...of sorts and members finishing tour early or still being on R & R the det is at only 50% manning, unfortunately the work is not! Despite the valiant efforts of Steve C.D Hickie, Steve.F and Morgery, averaging about 80km a day between them we are still falling behind, however we remain focused and confident in the challenge and are putting in 100% so please keep sponsoring us and help us reach our target.

8th Jan - CRISIS! We laugh in the face of crisis. With most of the team present for the last couple of days we have considerably caught up with our target distance. With personal daily distances of up to 65km we have now covered a total of approximately 1100km although this is rising as I type. Geographically we are presently in Syria approximately 100km from our Mediteranean crossing point and approximately 150km from the border with Turkey. Please keep donating and we will will keep going against all our physios' advice and achieve both of our targets.

11th Jan - With a full compliment of 7 enthusiastic athletes on the det (for a couple of days anyway) we are really picking up momentum. Having covered 1450km so far we have waved goodbye to Syria, crossed one stretch of the Med passing Cyprus on the way and are making some serious headway through the massive 727km stretch of mainland Turkey. Blisters, saddle sore and muscle ache are plentiful however morale and energy levels remain high with some friendly 'in house' rivalry which sees Martyn 'The Machine' Morge in the lead having just crossed the 300km mark. Watch your back Morge!

15th Jan....and the half way point! It has been a rollercoaster of a ride so far which has seen us give our absolute all to make up the distance we lost through work related set backs. Our determination to catch up and complete the challenge is finally paying off after not only catching up but also passing our target distance. Daily personal efforts of up to 100km see us now at over 2400km into our journey. Since our last update we have made the mammoth crossing of mainland Turkey, crossed the Aegean Sea to the Greek Coast, passed swiftly through mainland Greece and are currently making rapid progress through Macedonia. Halfway down and halfway to go.....

19th Jan - 3000km down and we are still going strong. Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzogovnia are just a distant blur as we pick up pace along the Croatian Coast up the Adriatic Sea. Italy is firmly within our sights now and who knows...we may even have time to stop for a cappucino!

24th Jan...1 week to go! One week to go and it's all to play for. Currently crossing the gruelling Swiss Alps passing Zurich on the East (good job we grabbed that cappucino in Italy) we are making good progress towards the French border. With 3750km down and one week to cover the remaining 1134km it's going to be tight, especially with 3 members of the det away. Keep tuning in for our daily 'final week' progress reports. Are we going to make it....what do you think?

25th Jan...6 days to go! Despite there only being 4 of us on 'det' and the regular mortor and rocket attacks being an increased hinderance, it's full steam ahead as we get closer to home. Currently 234km from Paris and 912km from our final destination.

26th Jan...5 days to go!  Paris is well within our sights now however the stresses and strains and aches and pains are starting to weigh heavy as the mileage takes its toll. One final push to go....that's if you describe 750km as a push!

27th Jan...4 days to go! Paris????? Hardly remember it, bring on the English Channel! 609km to go and going strong.

28th Jan...3 days to go! 4350km of the challenge completed and we finally find ourselves crossing the English Channel. It's still not over yet though with 494km to go between just 5 of us.

29th Jan...2days to go! Crossing the Channel overnight has brought us to within 380km of Brawdy. We're still a bit more than a stones throw but finally we're on British soil. With only 2 days left and still only 5 of us in action it looks like a sprint finish will be in order to complete the challenge, a 380km sprint....this is going to be emotional!

30th Jan...1 day to go! It seems we have more endurance than the gym equipment half of which was towed away today deemed unfit for use. Apparantly it had seen too much wear and tear....they're telling us!!! Nothing will stop us now though and as we continue down the M4 currently 148km away from Brawdy and for once we wont even have to pay the toll.

31st Jan...4844km down 0 to go, CHALLENGE COMPLETE! Never before or again will Brawdy be such a welcome sight but after 31 days of gruelling peddling, running and rowing we have finally reached our destination.

What seemed like a good idea at the time quickly turned into a running battle to keep up the pace after constant set backs. People being away due to work or R & R  and constant evacuations of the 'tented' gym during rocket and mortor attacks, although hindered our progress, never fazed us from reaching our goal.

All that remains now is to thank all our sponsors. Hopefully by the time this web page closes on the 1st March we will have surpassed our £2500 target. Thank you and keep sponsoring!

       ***If you would like more info on what we are doing or would like to sponsor us off-line or even send us a message of support you can contact us on alirichardson2@hotmail.com***