Camberley Mais Oui!
Camberley RFC members recently took to the streets en masse in a challenge of fitness and endurance. Members and friends were covering the 250miles distance between the Camberley club and their twin town Sucy-En-Brie in the south eastern suburbs of Paris.
The first team to virtually arrive at their destination was the women’s team in an impressive time of just seven hours. "This weekend has been a real buzz", said Kim Johnson, head coach of the Camberley Cocktails "The effort of the women’s team was outstanding with 30 players, coaches and our admin team contributing to this incredible club event. It has really lifted everyone's spirits."
Players, parents, grandparents, volunteers and club supporters ran, cycled and walked more than 12,300km in total.
The second part of the challenge was to see which team would record the greatest distance in the 36-hour event. This title went to the Green Laces made up of the U9s, U10s and U11s. Mushin Subhan, U9s coach said: "Some amazing efforts were put in by the squad and their families. James Gillian set an amazing early target on Saturday, running over two miles on the treadmill.
"Adrian Cunningham’s 23km was not planned but when his dad managed to get lost, the distance kept ticking up. It was great to see whole family groups get together for this great event and getting ready for the return to rugby at Watchett's Park."
Kerion Martin, U8s coach added: "Being the smallest players of Camberley RFC, our team’s little legs certainly gave the biggies a run for their money and saw them bring home bronze. Our squads really enjoyed getting stuck into this challenge and blowing away the cobwebs ready to get back on the pitch. It really does show what a family feel our club has created."
The Black & Amber team made up of the U14s and U15s came in second, with Team Cyril, the U7s and U8s third.
"Our main purpose was to foster a great sense of community across the whole club and re-engage our members in advance of returning to rugby in the spring," said Kim Johnson and Matt Searle, joint organisers and communication leads for the club.
With every section joining in, there were impressive standout performances within the men’s 1st XV. Tom Chennell and Connor Diplock both completed bike rides of more than 100km, while prop Josh Thundercliff completed ten 5km runs over the weekend.
Parents took bragging rights over the Academy players, with the many mums and dads involved combining a total distance of 797km, with Rob Davis’ effort of 208km producing the highest individual total in the group.
The club’s men and women in pink, Camberley's social supporters group SCRUFFS, ensured that every section of the club was actively involved. Their efforts saw them cross the virtual channel with lots of joie de vivre.
Jay Wilcox, chairman of the Minis section said: "I’m so proud of the entire section, collectively covering over 4,800km and finishing first and third. More importantly though, I'm proud of our community recognising the importance of the kids being active with their families for both physical and mental wellbeing.
"I was amazed on my bike ride to see so many Camberley shirts out and about. From Bagshot to Fleet, via Watchetts, I observed SCRUFFS, Vets, Cocktails and mini players walking, running and cycling. Everyone gave a wave, a cherry 'morning!' along with some competitive banter. Most importantly, there was a real sense of club community."
Marley from the club’s U10s brought his best game and a large helping of comfort for his family. He said: "When my Dad told me that Camberley Rugby Club were doing a virtual race to Sucy-en-Brie. I thought to myself, I would like to do more miles than anyone in my team. At that time my family was a little down as my big brother Jack had died on that day six years ago. To cheer my mum up, I told her I would like to do something which would make my big brother proud. Jack loved to cycle, so I decided to cycle the Shipwrights Way from Bentley to Portsmouth which is 50 miles. My mum said if I did it, she would donate £100.00 to Young Minds. We started early in the morning and it took about seven hours. I was hoping to raise £250.00 but in the end I was amazed to have raised £1,300. I was so happy to have done the challenge and helped my team to win."
