Judi is a 4th Year studying English. She and her friends Ceitlin Smith and Shirley Macleod cycled from London to Paris in June 2013 with Student Adventures Event, they were joined by 75 other students from universities across the UK.
Her Strath got an exclusive insight from Judi on what it was like to take part.
How did you find the/What is a Student Adventures Event?
Student Adventures is a fantastic organization which offer students the opportunity take part in challenges around the world and raise money for worthy charities. We found them online but they go around universities around March/April promoting their events. The adventures they organize include climbing Kilimanjaro, cycling from London to Paris, Sky Diving, Backpacking along the Great Wall of China, making your way through the Rwenzori Mountains, enrolling in a SWAT School and if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, trekking through the Arctic!
What do you need to do to take part?
You just register with Student Adventures online, fill out a few medical forms and pay a registration fee, ours was £125 each which covered all our accommodation, food and the EuroStar back (well worth the money!) but each adventure is different. Then you choose a charity to raise money for and agree to raising a minimum of £800 sponsorship each, we were quite apprehensive about reaching our target but we ended up exceeding it, so don’t worry about that, people are willing to give generously to a good cause!
Did you need to do much training before?
It is 202 miles over 2 and a half days. I am relatively fit and do quite a lot of sport and training so did not really do anything extra. My friends trained for about 2 months beforehand; going on maybe 2-3 20 mile cycles a week. They felt the cycle was quite challenging but still manageable!
How did you decide what charity to raise money for?
We chose Breast Cancer Campaign as we all have friends and family who have been affected by the illness.
How did you raise the sponsorship money?
We did our fundraising collectively so our target was £2400. We held a Zumba event in January which raised over £800, a Ceilidh Dance bringing in over £1600, a quiz night in The Pony (they do free venues for parties under 100), bagpacking and various sponsors which brought our total to over £7000!
Would you do it again?
Absolutely! There is a Leeds to Amsterdam cycle in the summer which I am hoping to do and maybe one day I’ll tackle Kilomanjaro!
Any advice for those wanting to take part?
Just do it! It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet new people, experience something different and raise money for a great cause! As I said I was pretty worried we wouldn’t achieve our £2400 sponsorship but after just a few fundraisers we had exceeded it- and organizing the events was great fun, just make sure you promote them as much as you can. Don’t be worried about the fitness aspect but if you don’t do very much sport I would recommend a few months training so you can enjoy yourself and take in the beautiful French scenery. Oh and a padded seat, you DON’T want to forget that.