So is swimming the Channel, finishing an Ironman triathlon and cycling from Rome to London.
But one Jerseyman has tasked himself with completing all of these challenges in a bid to raise at least £100,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Old Victorian Rufus Scholefield (25) has joined London-based friends Lirim Gula (24), Charles Crane (24) and James Deehan (24) in creating team Dorabros (named after the Dorado fish) with the aim of raising enough money to pay for a new treatment unit for the trust at the UCLH Macmillan Cancer Centre in London. The quartet are now busy training for an active year ahead.
‘We are undertaking a series of gruelling physical challenges to raise awareness of and sponsorship for the Teenage Cancer Trust,’ Rufus, from St Martin, who has just completed his law exams, said: ‘We share a determination to help those who are facing somewhat different challenges.
‘In the British Isles seven young people aged between 13 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer every day. We have one of the toughest years of training and racing ahead of us and we are aiming to raise at least £100,000 to finance and support a new treatment unit for the Teenage Cancer Trust.’
The first of the team’s challenges – which will be completed by James and Lirim – is the Marathon des Sables, a 251km footrace across the Sahara Desert which takes place next month.
Then in July the Dobrabros are due to cycle 2,100km across the Alps from Rome to London followed the next month by an Ironman triathlon – made up of a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and marathon distance run – in Vichy, France.
In September the team will take part in the Channel Swimming Association’s Relay Swim across the Channel, a 21-mile swim from England to France with nothing but goose fat to protect them against the freezing waters.
Lastly, the group will compete in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, a 3,000 nautical mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean.
‘We are not only aiming to complete the 2019 Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, we are in it to win it,’ said Rufus, who became friends with James at Edinburgh University and by extension James’s school friends Lirim and Charlie.
‘I have just retired from Team GB rowing after winning gold as a member of the GB VIII that won the 2019 FISU rowing world championships. I missed out on selection for the Team GB 2020 Olympic training squad. I am, however, turning my full attention to training up my fellow team members who are all accomplished athletes. We aim to win this race.’
The team is now looking for corporate sponsorship to ensure it can take part in the challenges.
‘We have costs of about £80,000 to meet to attempt all the challenges,’ said Rufus, whose father Christopher Scholefield is a lawyer at Viberts Jersey. ‘£40,000 of this is required to purchase the boat, which will be sold to a team for the following year allowing resale money to be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
‘The whole team is planning to come over to introduce ourselves to the Island at the 2019 Jersey Boat Show, which runs from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 May. We would love to show off our boat at the show with our sponsors’ logos already emblazoned on her sides.’
lTo find out more log on to dorabros.com.
