MUMBLES: Rugby legend Paul Thorburn to kayak the Welsh coast in £50,000 challenge

One of Welsh rugby’s most famous right boots is taking on a very different kind of distance.

Paul Thorburn leads a nine-strong team out of Mumbles Yacht Club at 1.15pm on Thursday at the start of Paddle, Peak and Pedal, a 12-day endurance challenge that begins with a sea kayak up the length of the Welsh coastline to Anglesey.

From there the team will climb Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the country’s highest mountain, before cycling 150 miles back to Swansea, aiming to cross the finish line on 31 August.

They are raising £50,000, split between the MND Association and Prostate Cymru, for research, care and services supporting people affected by motor neurone disease and prostate cancer, two diseases the organisers say have touched the lives of the team taking part.

Thorburn is famed for the 64.2-metre penalty he kicked against Scotland in 1986, still a Welsh international record four decades on.

Alongside the former rugby players in the team are a teacher, a retired Metropolitan Police officer and a former civil servant, and one member is currently recovering from prostate cancer.

Joining Thorburn are Bryan Herd, Ian Bain, Mark Cook, Ian Daniels, Iwan Hughes, Andy Mort, Simon Webborn and David Wintle.

‘We have all witnessed the devastating impact’

“My challenge colleagues and I have all witnessed the devastating impact that these diseases have on individuals, their close families and friends,” Thorburn said.

He said the team hoped the money raised would support the ongoing research into finding cures.

Training beneath Worm’s Head before the off

The team has been preparing in sea kayaks off Gower, with training photographs showing the paddlers beneath Worm’s Head at Rhossili.

The challenge is sponsored by insurance firm Everywhen, which has offices in Swansea and Cardiff, alongside other sponsors. Its regional managing director Justin Newton said the scale of the undertaking “cannot be underestimated”.

Donations can be made at the Paddle, Peak and Pedal fundraising page on Givewheel.

By the time the team rolls back into Swansea at the end of the month, they will have the length of Cardigan Bay behind them by kayak, a mountain on foot, and 150 miles by bike.