Gruelling celebrity challenge for Runcorn funnyman John Bishop

Feb 9 2012 by Daniel Mckenzie, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

A GRUELLING celebrity challenge will see Runcorn funnyman John Bishop following in the footsteps of fellow comic David Walliams.

The Sport Relief 2012 fundraiser, called Bishop’s Week Of Hell, will see the former Halton High School comic cycling, rowing and running more than 290 miles from Paris to London in just five days.

It is the second in a series of celebrity challenges sponsored by BT, following David Walliams’ Thames swim last year.

Bishop will be joined by other celebrities such as Davina McCall, Denise Lewis, Andrew Flintoff, Frank Skinner and Robbie Savage for part of the route.

He hopes to raise enough money to pay for a vaccine against five deadly diseases for 250,000 children in Africa, and to help people living tough lives in the UK.

He said: “I must be mad. I’m a man in my mid 40s, a bit thicker round the middle than I’d like to be and I’m about to take on the biggest physical challenge of my life.

“Up until a few weeks ago I’d never even sat in a rowing boat and now I’ve got miles of water to cover, then there’s the cycle and don’t even mention the word marathon to me.

“I know there will be times during the challenge when I’ll be freezing cold and fed up but when I’m down I will think back to the people I met in Sierra Leone earlier this year and I’ll know every penny I raise really will make a massive difference to people’s lives.”

The triathlon begins at the Eiffel Tower on February 27, finishing at Trafalgar Square.

For more information or to go the extra mile for Sport Relief 2012, visit www.sportrelief.com