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John Bishop raises nearly £1.7million after riding, rowing and running from Paris to London

Money raised by Scouse comic in Bishop's Week of Hell to benefit projects in UK and Africa...

Scouse stand-up comedian’s five-day journey this week from Paris to London, which saw the 45-year-old ride 185 miles from the French capital to Calais, row across the Channel and then run the equivalent of three marathons to reach his destination, has raised more than £1.6 million so far for the charity, Sport Relief.

Arriving in London’s Trafalgar Square yesterday to complete what had been billed as Bishop’s Week of Hell, the comedian was greeted by a big crowd singing the anthem of his beloved Liverpool FC, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’

Bishop didn’t complete the challenge entirely alone, either, although the various celebrities who joined him, starting with Olympic champion and former Tour de France maillot jaune Chris Boardman in Paris on Monday morning, only accompanied him for parts of the journey.

Hearing that his efforts had raised £1,660,198 for Sport Relief, an emotional Bishop said: “It’s just unbelievable. It’s absolutely staggering. I’ve seen the projects that Sport Relief supports and the great thing is it’s not only going to help people abroad. You can get in your car anywhere in the country and within 15 minutes you will find a Sport Relief funded project. That is amazing.”

He continued: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And on behalf of all those who will benefit from the money, thank you from the bottom of their hearts too.”

Bishop took 18 and a half hours to complete Monday’s 185-mile ride to Calais, leaving him with just one hour’s sleep before getting into a rowing boat with Davina McCall, Denise Lewis and Freddie Flintoff for the 36-mile row to Dover, which was completed in seven and three quarter hours.

After running from Dover to Faversham on Wednesday and then on to Gravesend on Thursday, the physical demands of the week were starting to exact a heavy toll on Bishop, who earlier in his journey had suffered from hallucinations as a result of sleep deprivation.

By the time he was on yesterday’s final leg into London, Bishop had to stop regularly for pysio treatment, with excruciating pain in one of his shins causing him particular problems.

The money raised by Bishop will go towards projects in the UK, as well as helping provide vaccinations against five deadly diseases for a quarter of a million children in Africa.

His journey was filmed for a BBC documentary, which will be screened ahead of Sport Relief which takes place between Friday 23 and Sunday 25 March.
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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joemmo | 12 years ago
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Not a fan of his work but respect is due for this effort.

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Strathlubnaig | 12 years ago
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Chapeau !!

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Cooks | 12 years ago
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Incredible, but I'm more impressed with that blonde Blue Peter lass at the south pole. And Eddie Izzard, that was just unbelievable.

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fretters replied to Cooks | 12 years ago
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Cooks wrote:

Incredible, but I'm more impressed with that blonde Blue Peter lass at the south pole. And Eddie Izzard, that was just unbelievable.

i'm more impressed with the blonde blue peter lass too, but that has bugger all to do with her fund raising efforts  105

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Tony Farrelly | 12 years ago
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Yes, top man. An amazing feat of both physical and mental toughness, the sleep deprivation alone would've killed me.

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Farky | 12 years ago
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What! No comments?

Absolutely amazing effort by Bish!
He's no sofa-supporting sloth by any means but to bring himself up to the level of this achievement is no mean feat at all.
We all know what hours in the saddle feel like regardless of effort, to then sit on your butt again and row for hours on end, even with support, and then take on 3 marathons!

Bloody HERO!

Cant wait for the documentary now. Should help double that donation figure alone!

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