A triathlon club in Caerphilly has raised over £3,200 for the local health board after a home 24-hour cycle challenge.

Over 60 members of Caerphilly Tri-ers took part in the challenge that started at 10am on Monday, April 13 and finished twenty-four hours later.

The money raised on the group’s fundraising page will be donated to the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

The challenge was the idea of club member Mani Pelaez-Heras and every member contributed on their bikes at home with the event streamed live online.

Overall, members completed a combined distance of 1,400 miles, the equivalent distance of Caerphilly to Naples.

Members took part in fancy dress and competed for individual challenges including the longest distance covered in an hour.

Amy Jenner, the club’s founder and chairperson, told Caerphilly Observer: “We never thought we would raise this amount.

“We had so much support from people who aren’t in the club and we were backed by so many people we don’t even know.”

Jenner explained that the club has a number of members who work in the NHS and frontline services.

“Gwent appears to be particularly badly hit by this outbreak, so we just wanted to do what we could to support those working on the frontline.

“We have nurses, firefighters and paramedics within our ranks and in our families.

“A wife of one of the guys works in the NHS here in Gwent and she joined in on the bike when she came in from work last night.

“The club is a real social hub for so many of our members, and it was great to all be back together again as we have had many events cancelled in what is now triathlon season.

“If this goes on for a while, we may do something similar again. For as long as members are willing to take part and the NHS needs support, we’ll do all we can to help.”

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