Colleagues from across the UM Group have helped to get our Great Molasses Challenge off to a great start.
The Challenge will see colleagues from across the Group join forces to raise tens of thousands of pounds for the charity Farm Africa.
The unique challenge aims to cover the distance of the first ever UM molasses shipment in 1912 – a total of 4820 miles (7712km) from the Dominican Republic to Hull. The Challenge will finish in Hull on June 9th when a number of colleagues will be taking part in the Hull 10K.
Last week, Simon Markham, Head of Molasses GB, and James Ramsden, UM Group’s Commercial Director, undertook a whistlestop tour of Italy, Spain and Germany to help launch the Challenge with colleagues in those countries.
The first event was in Carrugate, Milan, where the team had arranged to use a local sports park that had a ½ km track within it.
Guido Colombo and his colleagues, along with James, walked at least 5km while Simon was joined by Marco Motta in a run around the same track with Simon managing to run a little over 10km.
Simon said: “The way that the local team had embraced the Challenge and planned the day showed how much they had bought into the idea of the Challenge and how much they enjoyed taking part.
“Marco was the local star having put in some additional time to train to be able to start running with me. Also pleased with the challenge was Guido’s wife who had made sure he was well prepared for the start of the challenge and had set him up to succeed.”
From Milan, Simon and James moved on to Madrid where Isabel Conde joined them and the local team.
This time, Retiro Park was the venue which is a fantastic area for leisure and exercise in the heart of Madrid.
Though cool by Madrid standards, it was great to run and walk in with the local team each walking more than 5km in the park, which combined with the walk from the offices to the park and back was more than 8km each. Once again, Simon donned his running shoes to explore the park in a 10km run.