Thursday, 11 December 2008

47th Regiment and the Bupa Great South Run Land Rover Pull Sponsored by Guy Salmon Land Rover Portsmouth

On Sunday 26 October 2008, the historic city of Portsmouth again played host to Europe's premier 10 mile road running event, the Bupa Great South Run. A celebration of a fast, flat and scenic course, complemented by a superb atmosphere has propelled this as one of the most popular running events in the UK. This year’s entry saw approximately 19,500 runners. There was the usual selection of fancy dress runners and at the back of the field ……. a desert camouflaged Land Rover 110 being pulled by soldiers from 47th Regiment Royal Artillery, sponsored by Guy Salmon Land Rover Portsmouth.

The idea for the Land Rover pull came from Sergeant Major Ben Bentley with the intent to fundraise for ‘Help for Heroes’ and the ‘Army Benevolent Fund’. Guy Salmon Land Rover dealership in Portsmouth provided sponsorship for the Regiment including sign writing for the Land Rover and T-shirts for the team. In order to advertise the “Charity Pull” the Land Rover was taken to Asda Portsmouth where the locals were happy to discuss the attempt and make many generous donations.

The Land Rover pull team consisted of 3 teams of 6 members of the Regiment across all ranks. Rotating on the two ropes tied to the front of the Land Rover the teams began the 10 mile pull. It was with no surprise the weather was against the teams from the start but this did not dampen the spirits with everyone keen to do their share of pulling. The Land Rover cleared the finish line in a very respectable time of 2hr and 13mins 31 seconds, placing the team in 11114th place out of 19500.

Following sponsorship from Guy Salmon, two fund raising events at Asda Havant prior to the event, the recruiting effort and donations from the children’s races on the Saturday and the £4000 raised on the day the Regiment managed to raise in excess of £12,000 for the two nominated charities making the day a great success.