Tottenham Police officer to cycle 985 miles for disabled young people

PC Shane Martin, a member of Tottenham Hale Safer Neighbourhoods Team, has taken part in his fair share of endurance events, cycling across the Pyrenees when he was in his 20s, running a marathon across the Sahara when he was in his 30s, and cycling 405 miles across Britain in four days.

41 year-old PC Martin will set off from New Scotland Yard in September 2013 and pace the 985 mile ride over 10 days. 

He will face 38,320ft of hill-climbing and burn off an estimated 80,000 calories. 

PC Martin started preparing for the ride, planning routes, two years ago to combat a gain in weight. With a military background, he had previously been physically fit and wanted to regain his fitness. 

Since starting training, a regime that he is gradually building up to increase his endurance, PC Martin has dropped six-and-a-half stone, from 22 stone to 15-and-a-half.  He upped the anti on his training last Summer and started putting in about 1,000 miles a month. 

Then, in November 2012, medical issues caused him to seek medical attention and he found out through doctors that he was diabetic. "Learning to manage the diabetes has been another challenge" PC Martin said, "I'll ride about 30 miles, monitor my blood sugar, then continue. I have a sports company assisting and providing advice on how to manage it."

"In September, I've got 10 days to pace myself and achieve this, I'll be increasing the length of my rides. The longer days’ cycles are flatter, and the shorter ones are the more intense hill climbing. At the moment I’m doing around 70 miles in the longer cycles and will build that up to 100 miles several times a week. I'll also be riding about 27 Sportives and doing four legs of the Tour-de-France in preparation, building the length of intensity of training and factoring in recovery time."

Asked why he chose to support Whizz Kidz, PC Martin said: “I didn't only want the ride to be about helping myself, I wanted to help others too. 

"I've got two children myself and I wanted to support a charity that helps young people. I felt that there are many charities that already get a lot of publicity and support. I found Whizz Kidz and chose to support them, because I like what they are doing and want more people to know about them."

"My youngest daughter thinks what I’m doing is wonderful. My eldest daughter thinks I’m mad.” PC Martin said when describing his children's response to his adventure.

To support PC Martin as he raises money for Whizz Kidz, visit his charity fundraising page at: http://www.justgiving.com/Shane-Martin1

More about Whizz Kidz: http://www.whizz-kidz.org.uk/