A Lewis mum has raised £6000 for the Linda Norgrove Foundation after running the distance of six marathons in just six days.
Rhoda Bamsey of Uig, Lewis, completed the gruelling 160-
The cash will be used by the Linda Norgrove Foundation to help women and children
in Afghanistan. The body was set up by parents of 36-
The foundation continues the humanitarian development work that Linda was so dedicated to.
After a shaky start with complications involving broken down ferries and an amazing effort from Caledonian MacBrayne, the ferry company, endeavouring to make every effort to ensure that the ultramarathon challenge was kept on schedule, the team managed to set off from Barra.
Rhoda conquered adversity by powering through a newly acquired and painful hip injury.
She said: “By just the second day I was in quite a considerable amount of pain, but I saw Brian (the lead cyclist) in front of me wearing a bib and on the back it said ‘for women and children in Afghanistan’ and I was reminded of why we were doing what we were doing; it gave me a real boost.”
Rhoda was accompanied by John Conway and Brian Hindson on bike who are both volunteers for the Foundation.
Brian said: "I feel delighted to have been a part of this challenge, we’ve done this for Linda, for her parents John and Lorna and for the women and children of Afghanistan."
The cyclists too demonstrated a huge commitment and proved to be great support to Rhoda alongside coaches Tony and Kirsty Wade. Each night the team stayed in fire stations on the route and at every stage of the challenge they were met with overwhelming support and generosity.
Rhoda said: "The Linda's Challenge Ultramarathon team has raised over £6000 so far for the Foundation but this would not have been achievable without the following people; we’d like to give a huge thank you to all those who generously donated and also to Caledonian MacBrayne for covering the ferrying costs, Grillburger for kindly donating the fuel costs, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue services for the provision of facilities and also individual collections, Valtos Trust and also local Councillor Norman A.Macdonald for his support and enthusiasm. Without the support of all these people, our families and friends the accomplishment of this challenge would not have been possible."
The end of the ultramarathon also coincided with the presentation to the Foundation of a cheque for £3000 by Angus Campbell on behalf of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
A website at www.lindanorgrovefoundation.org has a link to a donation webpage.
Lewis mum runs six marathons in six days 19/7/11
The Comhairle donated £3000 to the Linda Norgrove Foundation