Two young women have raised more than £5,000 for Parkinson’s research after cycling 400 miles from Norfolk to South Wales.
PE teacher Alice Collins and driving instructor Laura Nicholls, both 26, set off from Mattishall on the morning of 23 July and arrived in Tenby four days later.
The route took them through Ely and Bedford on day one before they continued through Oxfordshire to Cheltenham on the second day.
They then crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales and stopped at Bridgend before completing the final leg to Tenby.
On reaching Tenby, Collins said: “It was a tough ride but we are so pleased to have made it and raised so much money for Parkinson’s UK.”
The cycle ride was inspired by the diagnosis of her stepfather, Paul Robins.
Collins said: “We would so much like to thank everyone who sponsored us and supported us throughout, as well as people who stopped us along the way and made donations when they saw what we were raising funds for.”
Their support team included Robins and Collins’s mother, Stephanie, as well as Nicholls’s parents, Mark and Sharon Nicholls.
Robins’s niece, Olivia Strickland, also raised money by running four ultramarathons in four days, taking the latest total to £6,000.
The cyclists and their support team were presented with special medals made by Nicholls for the event when they arrived in Tenby.
Collins and Nicholls first met when they were five and played girls’ football together.
They later played at a high level for Norwich City Academy squads and the successful Wymondham Ladies team.
Robins spent several years as a primary school teacher after serving in the RAF for 21 years and rising to the rank of wing commander.
He was also one of the last station commanders at RAF Coltishall before it closed.
He said: “I am so proud of the girls, they have worked so hard and managed to raise so much money; it is amazing what they have achieved.”
Tenby was chosen as the final destination because Robins, who now lives in Mattishall, grew up there.
