Press release
Building bridges: students’ cross-river challenge to support charity
Published on 4 March 2020
Student athletes from the University of Dundee will be running on fumes when they undertake a 24-hour relay across the Tay Road Bridge.
Student athletes from the University of Dundee will be running on fumes when they undertake a 24-hour relay across the Tay Road Bridge.
Members of the University’s Triathlon Club expect to complete the equivalent of six marathons as they pound the crossing’s pedestrian walkway in aid of charity Support in Mind Scotland (SiMS).
Given the exposed nature of the bridge, the 26 competing students are preparing for a running battle with the elements as they traverse the Tay on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 March. However, with plenty of competition experience and a rigorous training regime, the club’s Aaron Taylor is confident the challenge won’t be a bridge too far for the runners.
“The club trains up to seven times a week and this attempt won’t involve swimming or cycling, so we should be in pretty good shape,” he said.
“Runners will head out in pairs with each group running for an hour at a time. Every person will be given two times to run – one in the daytime and another at night - so how each athlete recovers between their allotted times will be important.
“The bridge is also notoriously windy while the traffic can also generate a lot of noise, so there will be plenty of factors that will influence our performance. We’ve not set a target pace but given that all of us are experienced runners we are expecting to clock up more than 150 miles by the time we have finished.”
The University of Dundee’s Triathlon Club has more than 60 members who compete at events throughout Scotland. Though one of the University’s smaller sports clubs, the membership has been determined to make a big impact in the local community, a desire that has prompted the ambitious cross-Tay event.
“We wanted to support a charity that works locally to help people with mental health issues,” added Aaron. “SiMS also works with a lot of people of our age, so that made it a natural fit for us to support their work.
“Mental health is an incredibly important issue and one that both the University and students take extremely seriously. We hope our relay helps to highlight this and can raise funds that will support the important work that SiMS does in Dundee and throughout Scotland.”
Anybody wishing to support the club’s fundraising efforts can do so online.