FEATURE: Two blokes, 150 miles, one bike, 12 hours, non-stop
On Saturday 12th March 2016, Gavin Parr and Jason Burke will set out on the 150 mile Coast to Coast bike ride from Whitehaven to Tynemouth, but it will have an added twist…
They will be attempting to do it in one day, non stop and on a tandem. Until 6am on that Morning of March 12th, neither Gavin or Jason will have ever ridden a tandem before.
Their proposed route will take them through the Lake District in Cumbria, over the notorious Hartside Pass in North Yorkshire and hopefully onto the finish in Tynemouth before the clock strikes twelve!
The challenge is in aid of Cancer Research UK and Sheffield Hospitals Charity. It has been launched to celebrate the landmark of 5 years clear for Jason from the horrible disease.
Please give generously!
www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/tandemchallenge
Follow their progress by liking their Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/tandemchallenge
Gavin’s Story
At the age of 39 I decided that things had to change after I competed in the Great North Run in 2009 and ended up in Hospital with a suspected heart attack. The four days that I spent laying in coronary care really brought it home to me that life must be enjoyed to the full.
At that time I was overweight and didn’t do any real exercise. I didn’t own a bicycle, and the only active things that I did were Sunday Football in the winter and Cricket in the Summer. That all changed after reminiscing with Newcastle Cycle Speedway legend Terry Kirkup. Within a few weeks, myself and many of the old faces were back on Cycle Speedway bikes, but on grass and not shale as there was no track left in the area.
Jimmy Graham and Norman Carson racing on grass at a reunion day, which prompted the return of Newcastle/Northumbria.
Once the racing bug had bitten once again I set about a fitness regime and on my 40th Birthday I launched a “4 at 40 challenge” which consisted of a Triathlon, The Cyclone 100 cycle sportiff, The Great North Bike Ride, and the Great North Run.
I sold my Motorbike and invested in Road and Mountain bikes to assist with the training.
The weight came off and I joined an outdoor fitness camp “ODFC”. The 4 at 40 challenge was completed, raising over £2,000 for Breast Cancer Care and I began to throw myself more into the Cycle Speedway, where the rest I guess is history!
British Veterans No.2 in my first season back. British Veterans No.3 last year. The British Veterans Champion this year and World Veterans Runner-Up.
Gavin Parr won the 2015 Over 40s Veterans title in August.
I’ve known Jason since we were kids and I’m really looking forward to dragging him through this next challenge.
Jason’s Story
Life changed for me forever on 1st October 2010. This was the day that I was given the news that I had cancer of the bile duct and was given 6-18 months to live. I was 43.
Luckily for me my consultant sought a second opinion and with the help of pioneering surgery I was saved in a 9 hour operation, as the surgeons removed the tumour, then reconstructed my liver, my bile ducts, and removed my gall bladder.
The surgeons, whilst happy with their work, sadly couldn’t give me the “All Clear” that I craved. It was a tremendous strain and I turned to Cavendish Cancer Care for their help with some counselling.
Jason, a former Scotland international, in the 1993 World Final in South Australia.
When I was well enough in 2012 I decided to raise some money for Cavendish by running the Sheffield Half Marathon and I was delighted to be able to help them to the tune of £1,100 as I completed the course in under two hours. Sadly for me, all of the training had left me in a significant amount of pain with my back and it was later found that I had prolapsed two vertebrae and that I would require even more surgery.
After everything that I had endured, mentally this floored me and I then underwent treatment for clinical depression. The back operation was a success and slowly but surely by the end of 2013 I began to feel a whole lot better about things. All thanks to the great NHS staff in Sheffield.
Jason (middle) back racing for Sheffield, pictured with Gavin (left) and Mark Mulvey (right). Jason’s comeback has saw him holding his own in the top tierof Cycle Speedway, the Elite League.
Early in 2014 both Gavin and my best mate Mark Mulvey began to cajole me back towards Cycle Speedway and by March, after a long time away, I was back racing again for Sheffield, some 31 years after my first debut!
Fast forward to now and Gav has talked me into this crazy Coast to Coast Tandem challenge to which I have bought into. It’s 5 years now and I’m still here!
To raise money for both the Sheffield Hospitals Charity and Cancer Research UK is the very least that I can do as a thank you for all of their help for me over these past few years.