A 14-year-old and a professional boxer will race the clock while cycling, running and walking across three countries for charity.
Jake Hodgson and Danny Roberts are set to cycle 185 miles across the width of Ireland, run 12 miles across the Isle of Man and walk 190 miles across England to raise money for Alzheimers Society.
They aim to complete this epic journey in just 12 to 13 days and raise £15,000.
The pair will start their challenge in April 2020 from Caladh Chulain, Galway, on the west coast of Ireland.
Over the total 387 miles they will find their way to Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast of England.
Both are no stranger to endurance challenges.
Ballakermeen High School student Jake recently completed a 190 mile trek across the width of England, plus the Millennium Way and Raad ny Foillan coastal path in the island which raised more than £17,000 for Hospice Isle of Man.
He told the Examiner that following his huge trek in England, he was inspired to do something even bigger before starting his GCSEs.
That’s when he considered walking across Ireland, the island and England. However, this would have taken a large amount of time out of school.
It was decided that he would complete three different activities for each country.
’I thought maybe this time I might get another individual to do the challenge with me,’ he said. ’Danny is an endurance guy and I know him quite well. I approached him and he said he was well up for it,’ Jake said.
Although the student is a keen mountain biker, he is not used to road cycling and ’never used to be a good jogger’.
To build himself up he has five wattbike sessions a week, sponsored by Cycle 360, and runs once a week with Noble’s Parkrun group.
Looking ahead, Jake said he’s ’excited’ for the challenge.
Danny, a boxer from Douglas, has completed a 24 hour continuous circuit challenge and will run the equivalent height of Mount Everest 8, 850 metres (29,035 feet) from Laxey to Snaefell’s summit (6,673 metres or 2,034 feet) and back 14 times. This is in aid of Huntington’s Disease Isle of Man and mental health charity Reach Isle of Man.
They thanked their challenge sponsors: Just Lee Photography; Isle of Man Steam Packet; Cycle 360; Baker Tilly; Proper Cleaner by Guy Martin; Splinters DIY; Alice Ashe at Nutriton-AL; Lucy Ricciardi at High Performance Analysis; Jonny Bellis Coaching and Manx School of Motoring.
For more details visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/3countrychallenge