A consultant at Hull Royal Infirmary has completed an epic 1000-mile challenge by cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats on a three-wheeled trike.
Dr Jacquelyn Smithson, a consultant in gastroenterology, completed the 1,000-mile adventure with her wife Sarah Jones and her best friend Adrian in just three weeks.
With donations still coming in, the trio’s total raised for the MS Society stands at an incredible £10,001.
After reaching John O’Groats, Dr Smithson, who has MS, said: “The best part of it all has been the amount of support we’ve received from so many people – all the messages on Instagram, on our JustGiving page and also people who came up and spoke to us while we were on the route.
“One of the things I’ve learned is just how many people this disease affects. So many people came up to tell us their sister, friend, mother or brother had MS. Someone saw our t-shirts and came over to say they’d been diagnosed with MS.
“It has allowed people to talk about MS and that’s so important because I know I didn’t talk about my diagnosis for years. But you have to allow people the opportunity to say how they feel, that life doesn’t end, that you can do stuff and still have aspirations and dreams.
“Those aspirations might be different but you can still do these things.”
Sarah updated their Instagram account and JustGiving page every night, keeping their army of friends and supporters entertained with tales from their challenge including punctures, whales off Arran, potholes and the Jacobite steam express.
As they reached their destination last night, Sarah wrote: “Wow… just wow! It was an amazing day, the weather was perfect, the scenery was spectacular and in a blink of an eye we had made it to Dunnet Head – the most northerly point in mainland UK.
“Wonderful views over Orkney and a close up of a Golden Eagle to boot. We are humbled by all the support and generosity given by friends, family and passers by. And then we were at John o’Groats!
“Thank you, everyone, for your support.”
Dr Smithson used the special three-wheeled trike to cycle the length of mainland Britain in just three weeks, including some stages that were almost 70 miles at a time and involved climbs of 4,489ft, more than the height of Ben Nevis at 4,413ft. In total, the trio climbed 65,000 feet throughout their challenge, more than twice the height of Everest.
They also met their neighbours along the way at Gretna, including their seven-year-old son Will who cycled 26 miles of the route with the team raising £600 on his own to add to the total.
Dr Smithson said: “I can’t believe how blessed we were with the weather. There was wind and rain at times but we’d blue skies and deeper blue seas and incredible views. It was up and down all the way. Every time you’d think you’d made it down hill, there was another uphill.
“I’m tired and still quite emotional but It’s just been amazing.”
