1 week Ago By Evening Standard
presenter has successfully completed his Ultra Endurance Cycle Challenge, crossing the finish line to a warm reception in on Friday. The 51-year-old former Top Gear and Question of Sport host has on a specially adapted 1970s Rayleigh Chopper named Patch. "What a sight, what a feeling!" he exclaimed as he crossed the finish line at BBC Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow.
Speaking with Zoe Ball live on her Radio 2 show, McGuinness was overcome with emotion after achieving his physical feat, having started in Wrexham on Monday. He said through tears: “Honestly I can’t believe it. I came out of East Kilbride, I was looking at Glasgow and it was lit up in sunshine.
“Then coming in here and the streets were lined. I had Sir Tom Hunter beside me and I came around the corner there..
. What a sight, what a feeling! Thank you so much everybody.” McGuinness's fundraising total is set to increase substantially, as Scottish businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom announced he would match any donations made from Wednesday onward, up to a £3 million cap.
Ahead of the final 18-mile stretch, McGuinness shared his thoughts to BBC Breakfast on Friday: "It’s drizzling, it’s dark and it’s freezing, but still people come out there. “I’ve been absolutely blown away by the amount of people, I’ve come all the way from Wrexham, out of Wales into England, up into Scotland, and I couldn’t tell you when there were bits where people weren’t stood on the roads. “It feels like every single person knows what’s going on, it’s amazing.
“It’s really a privilege to be a part of it, it’s a little moment in my life I’ll hang on to – it’s been lovely.” McGuinness revealed the fact he was riding a bike designed for a child had caused a few issues, and said his physio had been helping him at every stop. He said: “Essentially, it’s a child’s bike, and you’re kind of in a stressed position all the time when you’re riding it.
“So that’s why my back keeps seizing up, but this last couple of days, my knees have gone now, they’re completely shot. “And Jeff..
. my physio, he gets stuck into me at every pit stop. “We’ll pull in, and he’ll get the bed out, and we’ll do all that, and then I talk to everybody who turns up, and we do selfies and everything else, and then we crack on to the next town.
” Throughout his journey, the Bolton-born broadcaster has been joined and supported by notable figures, including Olympic cyclist Sir on Thursday. He said of Hoy joining him: “The most surreal moment of my life was going into a service station just off the motorway and watching a Knight of the Realm [Sir Chris Hoy] do Agadoo with Black Lace live. I was like, ‘this does not happen normally!’ It was brilliant honestly.
” McGuinness also received encouraging messages from astronaut Tim Peake and Phoenix Nights co-star Peter Kay. In a typically humorous note, Kay urged him: “Get across that finishing line and get yourself a nice garlic bread. This is the way to Glasgowrilla!” The presenter shared that his inspiration for taking on the challenge came from meeting individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by projects supported by BBC Children in Need.
He said: "When you meet these people...
that's what spurs you on, and when you see the work that's being done in and around it, and again, when you're out and about, just people stopping me.” Last year, fellow Radio 2 presenter Vernon Kay raised over £5 million for Children in Need by completing an ultra-marathon. The DJ covered an impressive 116 miles, running from Leicester to Bolton over the course of four days.
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