posted by Jamie McLaren, Active Schools Coordinator, Montrose, Schools and Learning
As some of you may be aware Active Schools undertook a cycle challenge for Sport Relief on Friday the 18th of March. The challenge was to cycle to a school in all 8 burghs of Angus within the school day. Two Active Schools Coordinators (Jamie McLaren and Kelly Moonlight) and the Active Schools Manager (Andy Garnett) took up the challenge to raise as much money as possible for Sport Relief.
Newtyle Primary School
The Challenge started in a grey, cold and dreich Newtyle at 9am in the morning. We forgot the weather as the whole school were out cheering us off.
Auchterhouse Primary School
We headed to Auchterhouse and were greeted by the whole school on the road side. This gave us an early boost with the pupils cheering us on.
Tealing Primary School
We then headed on to Tealing and the school were out in the playground wheeling around on their bikes, scooters and skates to help keep us motivated. The school had encouraged pupils to bring in their ‘wheels’ to engage them with our challenge.
Monikie Primary School
We then had a slightly longer ride to Monikie. This was made well worth while by being handed a chocolate bar and a bottle of water on arrival. The whole school were out again to cheer us on and keep us going. They had also brought in their wheels to celebrate the cycle challenge.
Muirfield / Timmergreens Primary Schools
The next stage was on to Muirfield/Timmergreens (Kelly’s base school). Both schools were out and had created a guard of honour for Kelly. She dutifully cycled up and down through the crowds managing to show impeccable balance whilst high fiving every pupil. Muirfield were undertaking a cycle challenge of their own and the had an exercise bike to try and race us over the 55 miles. Needless to say the energy of over 200 excited primary pupils managed to beat our weary legs! After a quick sandwich and a brownie it was off to Inverkeilor.
The school had the Angus Cycle Hub in with the pupils undertaking their level 1 bikeability training. We handed out the certificates and were presented with an amazing cake (made by the nursery) to keep our energy levels up. This was needed as we headed off and tackled the short lunan beach climb up and over to Ferryden.
They were also out on the road to cheer us in. Jamie McLaren had organised a spin bike for the school and it was their challenge to race the Active Schools Team taking turns to pound the miles on the exercise bike. Unfortunately they completed the required distance by Lunchtime and stuffed us!
The last leg was a quick cycle to Andover as technical difficulties had slowed us down. We made the school by 3pm and were cheered home along the road by the whole school. They had made a finishing banner which was a hugely welcoming sight!
The challenge covered 55 miles and all schools involved over the route engaged in the challenge and helped cheers us on so we could make the final bell. We received great sponsorship from across the council and this helped us raise £845. We would like to thank you for all your support.
