SJP employee takes on the world’s toughest race

Dr Sarah Ruggins is raising money for the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation, as she races in what is described as one of the world’s toughest races: the Transcontinental Bicycle Race.

Sarah, who is Head of the Investment Specialist team at St. James’s Place, is one of the few females who has been accepted to compete against more than 300 athletes from around the world. She is attempting to be the fastest female cyclist and fastest pairs team to cross the European continent unassisted, in the race’s 10^th anniversary event.

On the 21^st July, Sarah started out from Roubaix, France, where she is riding through 16 countries; covering approximately 4,400km of gruelling terrain, from the shores of the Black Sea, via rock-hewn tunnels, to bald mountain tops, all whilst being her own mechanical, medical and navigational support. It is an exercise that will require insurmountable strength, and endurance as she seeks to complete the challenge in under 14 days.

In her teenage years, Sarah was an Olympic hopeful, running her first Commonwealth Games qualifying time at 15 years old. However, the course of her life changed when an injury required extensive surgery on both her feet. Soon after she developed a disease in her nervous system which caused a near total-body paralysis, rendering her bedridden for several years.

Sarah said:

“In those years my goals changed from running an Olympic qualifying time to surviving. But over time I gained the confidence to try and flex my toes, feed myself independently, and hold a pencil well enough to write my name. During this time there were numerous charities involved in my care, and I could not have recovered without them.”

In addition to the enormous physical challenges, the race will also test her mentally as she deals with mounting sleep deprivation. Sleeping on the side of the road en route when it’s safe to do so, Sarah will need to problem-solve under increasing levels of physical and mental fatigue.

A huge amount of preparation has been undertaken in readiness, with Sarah training 30 hours per week, in addition to planning her route logistics and using that to inform her bike specifications. She has also had to learn to build every component of her bike in case of mechanical failures during the race.

Sarah continued:

“What my rehabilitation taught me is that we are capable of enduring infinitely more than we think and that compassion for yourself and others can be your competitive edge, both in sport and in life. I now use ultra-endurance training as a way to explore the emotional and physical limits of my body as it exists today while bringing awareness to impactful charities, such as the fantastic work being undertaken by the SJP Charitable Foundation.

You can support Sarah and the SJP Charitable Foundation by donating to her JustGiving page. The Foundation supports hundreds of charities every year through its grant-making programmes. Many of its charity partnerships go beyond funding, with the SJP community also volunteering their time and skills, helping to deliver an even bigger impact.