HI!

Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.

My name's Chris Penneck and I'm in the Royal Air Force. I'm also a keen mountain biker and I've decided that I can raise some much needed funds for charity through my cycling.

So what have I decided to do that's worthy of your money?

Well, on Saturday 1 August 2009, I will be competing in the No Fuss / Hope sponsored Endurance Downhill Mountain Bike Event at Fort William, North West Scotland.

This event is one of the most physically demanding downhill racing events of the year and will involve me racing down the World Cup standard Downhill Mountain Bike track at Fort William as many times as possible over the course of 6 hours!

The track at Fort William is considered by the world's best riders to be the toughest on the World Cup circuit, and they usually only race on it twice a weekend, for 5 minutes at a time! As you can see, 6 hours of this will be a real test of both me and my bike.

I have added a video to this page showing the track I will be racing, being ridden by two professional racers.

I'm not setting a specific target number of runs down the track as mechanical problems (and potential injuries to me!) mean that this wouldn't be practical. So, I'm just going to give it my all and complete as many runs as possible before the time runs out / my bike breaks / I break.

Obviously this will require a large amount of strength and stamina in order to survive the physical pounding I will be enduring over the 6 hours and so I will be undertaking a large amount of training between now and I will try to update my progress on here regularly!

You can find out more about the event from the organisers on their website: http://www.nofussevents.co.uk/event/Endurance-Downhill/1027

As for the charity that I have chosen, I chose the British Heart Foundation (BHF) as it is a charity that is very close to me. I lost both of my grandparents to heart related illnesses and so I try to raise money for the BHF every year.

The BHF is Britain's heart charity and is committed to a vision of a world in which people do not die prematurely of heart disease. They aim to achieve this through their pioneering research, vital prevention activity and their quality care and support for people living with heart disease. 

As the nation's heart charity, the BHF focuses on three vital things:

- Investing in pioneering research

We fund around 1,200 research projects investigating every aspect of heart disease - from causes and safer drugs to improving surgical techniques.

- Supporting and caring for heart patients

We fund BHF Nurses who visit heart patients with all types of heart conditions in their homes. We provide defibrillators and echocardiograph machines for hospitals, emergency services and first-aiders.

- Providing vital information to help people reduce their own risk of dying prematurely from a heart or circulatory related illness

We produce publications, videos and other materials for health professionals and the public including children. We inform people about how to improve the health of their heart through public information campaigns, advertising and the media.

You can find out more about the BHF and how they help by visiting their website at www.bhf.org.uk.

So that's what I'm doing and who I'm doing it for, all that's left now is for me to ask you to please give generously, but please give whatever you can as any donation will make a huge difference!

Thank you!

Chris



Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!