Davina’s epic challenge comes to Peak

TV presenter Davina McCall passed through the High Peak this week on her epic seven-day challenge for Sport Relief.
Davina cycles from Accrington to Hayfield. Photo courtesy of Sport Relief.Davina cycles from Accrington to Hayfield. Photo courtesy of Sport Relief.
Davina cycles from Accrington to Hayfield. Photo courtesy of Sport Relief.

The popular host left Edinburgh on Saturday to embark on her Beyond Breaking Point challenge, sponsored by BT, which will see her run, cycle and swim the 500 miles to London.

Having already endured three days of gruelling physical challenges, on Tuesday, Davina set off from Accrington to cycle to Hayfield, before then running to Edale. Wednesday saw her cycle the 90 miles from Edale to Birmingham.

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She is due to finish her challenge by running the 26 miles from Windsor to Central London tomorrow (Friday).

Davina cycles from Accrington to Hayfield. Photo courtesy of Sport Relief.Davina cycles from Accrington to Hayfield. Photo courtesy of Sport Relief.
Davina cycles from Accrington to Hayfield. Photo courtesy of Sport Relief.

Speaking to the Advertiser in Edale, Davina said: “I feel the same as I’ve felt at the end of every day - an enormous sense of relief, an enormous sense of fatigue and then the enormous question of how the hell am I going to get through tomorrow?

“Before the challenge I said that day three and four were going to be the biggest challenge and after that I’ll be ok. I hadn’t thought about the weather conditions and how hard it would be cycling in the driving rain and how physically exhausted my legs would be.

“We had to change the route today because one of the roads was closed but it was unavoidable. I’ve just got to try and get from Edinburgh to London.”

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And when asked how she had become involved in the challenge, Davina said: “They called me and said they’d like me to do a challenge, something in England with a bit of swimming, cycling and running. So I said ok, I can’t run, in fact, I can’t really walk up the stairs so you’re going to have to sort that out. I turned up on the first day of training and still didn’t know what the challenge was. Then when I found out, I didn’t sleep for a couple of weeks thinking about it.”

She added: “The Pennine Way is so beautiful. The mountains were snowcapped but I could see bits of green. It was wonderful.”

You can track Davina’s progress, or sponsor her online at sportrelief.com/davina. Alternatively, text FIVE to 70510.