Glen Martin admits his Gumboot Friday fundraiser is a “stupid idea” but he’s not letting that hold him back.
The Richmond gym-owner and electrician is planning to ride an exercise bike for 24 hours to raise money for Gumboot Friday, the main fundraiser for the I Am Hope Charity. I Am Hope works with young people’s mental health around New Zealand.
Glen’s epic ride will start at Tasman Bay Crossfit gym in Richmond this Friday at 2pm and he says he’s rather nervous.
“The long and the short of it is that it’s a stupid idea and I’ve had a few people tell me not to do it but it kind of adds to the fire.”
The idea started when a gym member asked Glen if Tasman Bay Crossfit could do a fundraiser for Gumboot Friday, he said he was keen to support the charity and joked that he could ride the bike for 24 hours.
The member he was speaking to said “would you do that?”
“So I thought, oh well, why not give it a crack,” says Glen.
He’s since recruited two others to join him on the ride, Dave Orme and Johnny Arbuckle. The gym’s usually classes will still run as normal and there will be a food cart and band playing on Friday night with a bouncy castle set up on Saturday morning.
Glen says boredom will be one of the big obstacles so is encouraging people to come down and “tell me a joke”.
The longest amount of time Glen has spent on a bike before this challenge was a two and a half hour ride from Nelson Lakes to Richmond. He says he’s expecting to be “walking like a cowboy” at the end of it.
While the ride is for 24 hours Glen says they will have a ten minute break every two hours to be able to go to the toilet.
He says he’s hoping the ride will raise as much as possible for Gumboot Friday. Everyone is welcome to come down to Tasman Bay Crossfit to watch the ride and donate or you can donate to the Givealittle page set up at givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/24hr-biking-for-our-tamariki
