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Richard Parks' 737 Challenge Newsletter - June 2010
 

welcome to July's newsletter

It's been a busy month for Richard and the 737 Challenge Team. The Challenge is really starting to become reality now and Richard has welcomed some new people on to the ever-growing team as the Challenge's profile rises further.

The following few months are imperative in terms of preparation, funding and spreading the word, so thank you to everyone who has supported Richard's 737 Challenge so far and tell all your friends to keep following Rich's latest updates on Facebook and Twitter.


LAUNCH EVENING AT THE WELSH ASSEMBLY

Richard hosted a special reception at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay to raise awareness of his expedition and say a big thank you to all his supporters so far.

Video of the launch night by the WRU

The night was a huge success, Richard stated; “I am thrilled that the Welsh Assembly invited me to hold an event here and I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to share the 737 Challenge with our guests. The aim of the night was to bring together many people and businesses throughout the region to raise awareness about the challenge and I would like to thank everyone who came along”.

» Watch the video from the night at WRU online


RICHARD INSPIRES YOUTH DURING SCHOOL VISITS

Hereford Cathedral School Visit
Having met with pupils from Hereford Cathedral School after his summit to Denali it was a real honour for Richard to be invited back to Hereford as their guest speaker at the end of term speech day.

Richard stated; “It was a honour to be asked to speak in Hereford Cathedral and it was really humbling that the boys and girls from the junior school raised £172 for Marie Curie Cancer Care, not to mention their letters of support”.

The pupils also wrote the most amazing thank you letters and here's a couple of extracts from some of them!

Letters

Maesgwyn School in Aberdare
Richard received a warm welcome at Maesgwyn School in South Wales at their end of term sports day. Maesgwyn is a school for children with moderate learning difficulties and Richard was thrilled to climb with the pupils on a climbing wall. “We had a great morning sharing my stories of the challenge and some of my climbing gear, the kids were awesome.” stated Richard.


RICHARD GETS THE VIP TREATMENT AT GRAND PRIX

Richard, a mad keen biker fulfilled one of his dreams earlier this month when he spent the weekend at the Catalunya MotoGP as a guest in the Paddock. Rich took along former Wales full back and 737 Challenge personal trainer Kevin Morgan for a welcome weekend off and was also accompanied by Bath's Mark McMillian and Neath's Peter Sidoli.

Richard at Grand Prix

Richard is presented with a Suzuki shirt and meets Moto GP riders Alvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi.

“It was definitely one of the best weekends ever! I'm a biker and a huge MotoGP fan so it was awesome to spend time with the riders and teams”.

Richard added; “It came at a time when things had been really tough in the challenge so not only was it a great weekend but also a chance to recharge my batteries so I could re focus on my challenge. From getting the opportunity to meet the Rizla Suzuki riders, spending time in their garage with the mechanics, getting to hear all the bikes and seeing them on the grid was awesome. A big thank you to the BBC Sport team for inviting me, the guys from IRTA for making the weekend so special, to Ducati and to everyone at Rizla Suzuki for looking after us!”


RICHARD AND RHODRI HAVE A NATTER

Rhodri Williams - BBC Radio Wales  

Richard appeared on the Rhodri Williams show on BBC Radio Wales, you can listen again to the guys having a good old chin wag by visiting the 737 Challenge Website and clicking on Rhodri!

» You can also click here to check out Richard's new online column for BBC Wales Sport.


RICHARD GETS HYPOTHERMIC AT IMMERSION TESTING

Richard spent 3 days at Portsmouth University in cold water immersion tests. Richard will travel to the Geographic North Pole as part of his challenge and he's preparing to swim between icebergs to save time on this vital leg to allow himself more time acclimatising on Everest.

The testing went well and was hugely beneficial to the challenge; “A huge thank you to the guys at Portsmouth University, it wasn't fun getting clinically hypothermic that early in the morning and made the recovery ice baths from my rugby days seem like a walk in the park, but it was great preparation!”.

Immersion Tests

» See Richard’s cold water immersion pictures on Facebook.


CHLOE'S CLIMB, A NIGHT OF INSPIRATION

Richard recently attended a night of inspiration in Cardiff as a guest speaker and to also show his support for Chloe Smith, who at 15 years old is hoping to become the youngest person from Wales to climb Kilimanjaro in just under a month’s time.

Richard spoke alongside the likes of Tori James, the first ever-Welsh woman to climb Mount Everest and blind adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber.

Richard alongside many of the guest speakers at Chloe's special night.

Richard alongside many of the guest speakers at Chloe’s special night.

Richard stated; “It was a amazing to be apart of such a great evening and if I am honest it was really surreal and pretty awesome to be on the same bill as some of the speakers. Getting the opportunity to meet them and to listen to their stories was really cool. I particularly enjoyed listening to Miles Hilton-Barber talk about all the inspiring things he has done. Listening to someone that lives his life without the usual boundaries that being blind imposes and hearing him talk about the amazing things he's achieved was awesome”.


WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT?

Richard will be climbing Pen y Fan as many times as possible in 24 hours this month. He will be joined by support vehicles and personnel from Project Mobility 4x4, a charity who convert Landrovers to help conquer fears and mobility issues and give our injured soldiers the chance to have an Adventure, Experience and gain back some Independence.

Richard and Steve Williams will also be getting in front of the camera for a photoshoot, pictures will be up on the 737 Challenge website, facebook and twitter soon!

Preparation continues in earnest… Richard will be up Snowdon for more training before heading off to Cho Oyu, Tibet (The 6th highest mountain in the world, 8201m/26,906ft) next month for the final training expedition and Everest mock exam!

There will be plenty more appearances and news over the coming weeks so keep following Richard on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for support, you are part of Richard’s journey now. Please pass the word on and don’t forget to follow the Challenge on our website, facebook and on twitter.


The 737 Challenge Team

The 737 Challenge Team 

www.737challenge.com

 

 

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Tracy Pinder - PR Manager
tracy.pinder@737challenge.com
07760 165165

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