A group of students working at a Manchester chemicals firm spent 24 hours rowing, running and cycling non-stop – and it was all for a great cause.
Chemistry students Ottilia Rossert, Anna Passmore, Katy Hardman and Rose Montgomery Danagher, all on a year’s placement at additives company Lubrizol, undertook the demanding feat at The Gym on Portland Street.
The only placement students Lubrizol currently has at its Blackley site, the quartet decided to push themselves as they are part of the ‘Lubrizol Olympics’ committee, a company-wide scheme encouraging employees to complete a sports-based challenge with the aim of raising £25,000 for mental health charity Mind. Lubrizol staff are aiming collectively to complete the distance between the UK and Beijing, where this year’s Winter Olympics were held.
Ottilia, Anna, Katy and Rose, all in their early 20s, said they were keen to get behind the charity because of the enormous toll the pandemic has wrought on many people’s mental health.
Ottilia, a fifth-year chemistry student at Edinburgh University, said: “I think Mind is a really important charity which I know helps people. I got Covid in January and was on my own for ten days. I couldn’t help thinking that some people had been forced into that situation for the entirety of lockdown – that really brought it home to me. It can be really tough to be left on your own with your own thoughts.”
The four young women began their challenge at 9am on Saturday March 26 and kept going until 10am the following day – taking account of the fact it was the weekend when the clocks went forward. Beginning with a group yoga session, each member of the team then undertook an hour of exercise each, on the rowing, cycling and running machines. Three colleagues from Lubrizol also supported the group by taking on an hour of exercise themselves.
Anna, a student at Manchester University, said the fitness feat had been tough-going, and the hardest element was coping with the lack of sleep.
She said: “Overall, looking back now, the challenge feels slightly surreal! A lot of the hours, particularly in the middle of the night, seem to blur together a little bit.”
Ottilia added: “The exercise itself was achievable but we were sore by the end of each hour. The hardest bit was the lack of sleep! We would be able to get maybe a few minutes here and there and then have to go again. The hours in the middle of the night were very much a blur.”
Between them the Lubrizol quartet covered a 145-mile distance on different pieces of gym equipment. They said they were very grateful for the support of Lubrizol in their challenge, which has so far raised £1400 for Mind. The organisation as a whole has raised around £22,000 for the charity. Anyone who would like to donate further can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/24hchallenge.
