May 17, 2016, by Liz Cass

Eddie Izzard and me: Sore feet, ice baths and fundraising challenges

On Friday Eddie Izzard is coming to Nottingham Lakeside Arts with his show Force Majeure 333. Not only will he be delivering his stand up show in three languages (German, French and English) but 25 per cent of ticket sales will be donated to Life Cycle 6 – the University’s annual fundraising campaign, raising funds for breast cancer research in Nottingham and Derby.

Eddie recently ran 27 marathons in 27 days for Comic Relief. I know how that feels after I did nine marathons, including the London Marathon, in ten days back in 2005.
This all came about after I was approached by our local school to help raise money to widen the door frames. This was so Victoria one of the pupils, a disabled girl, would be able to access different rooms more easily and stay at the school with all her friends including my own boys.

The marathon challenge was born and later in the year I pushed Victoria around the Nottingham Marathon course to let her experience the crowds cheering and the race day atmosphere.

 

The hardest thing about the challenge was going out for runs when it was raining and windy. I also struggled on days where I was alone on country roads, knowing I’d be getting up to do the same again the next day. I don’t know how Eddie did it, I can sympathise with the sore feet as I used to have an ice bath every night to try to ease the pain for the next day.

Also, like Eddie, I’ll be raising money for Life Cycle 6 with a charity Disco on June 18th. The event will be held at what was the Carlton Studios (Studio 7) at Kings Meadow Campus and tickets are available from myself steven.wright@nottingham.ack.uk or the Campaign and Alumni Relations Office.

It will include music from Abba tribute band ‘The One of Us’ , ‘T I Funk’ an exceptional six piece band, a professional disco with a metre diameter Glitter ball, licensed bar, food, auction prizes and raffle plus a celebrity mystery guest.

Life Cycle 6 includes a team of University staff undertaking a gruelling 1,400 mile endurance bike ride this August to the four corners of Britain to help raise funds for breast cancer research.

I’m also taking part in the endurance ride along with the Vice Chancellor. One hundred miles a day is the longest ride we have attempted to date but we have a fantastic team and amazing support crew to help us achieve our target of £1 million.

As well as sponsoring our team of Life Cycle 6 endurance cyclists and taking part in the community bike ride, the University is encouraging people to hold their own fundraising events such as bake sales, dress down days, sky dives. A list of ideas and more information features on the Life Cycle website.

  

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