Burns Raises £7k for Noah's Ark Charity

After six months of fundraising, plenty of exercise and a few blisters staff at Burns Pet Nutrition raised £6,857 for Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity completing a series of epic sporty challenges including the gruelling Ironman Triathlon and the Cardiff Half Marathon.

Noah’s Ark is a charity close to our hearts with several employees with loved ones receiving ongoing treatment at their Cardiff facility. Staff wanted to do something big to show appreciation for this incredible organisation.Burn Pet Nutrition’s Community Officer Chris Cray trained for the best part of a year to complete the gruelling Ironman Challenge.

This outrageously hard endurance test puts participants through 140 miles of sheer exercise in the course of a day. Participants endure a 2.5 mile swim in the Pembrokeshire ocean, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon to end. To put this challenge into perspective, the average person completes the course in 12.5 hours,over half a day of pure exercise!Chris said, “My godson Harvey has endured many operations since the day he was born but always with a smile on his face and determination.

The Ironman was the biggest challenge of my life but it’s nothing compared to what Harvey and many other children go through on a daily basis.”Chris was joined by Ciaran Burns, Ewan Burns and Leon Burns who had all completed the Ironman in the past. In addition, Amy Burns, Craig Thomas and Laura Wood took part in the Saundersfoot Triathlon.Following the Ironman, 17 of us completed the Cardiff Half Marathon in October, tying our shoelaces to run 13 miles around the Welsh capital.Some of us are seasoned sprinters, others are Steady Eddie’s and some are total beginners. But regardless of our different paces we ran every mile for the same reason.

In addition to chasing endorphins and completing one of the world’s toughest triathlons, we also organised our own grassroots events; The Great Kidwelly Car Wash and the 65 Mile Treadmill-a-thon which saw us run the distance from Kidwelly to Cardiff over the course of a day. Our farm shop customers certainly got more than they bargained for when they popped in for a cuppa to find John Burns sweating on the cross-trainer.The money we’ve raised will be used to help the thousands of vulnerable babies and children across Wales that require specialist treatment at Noah’s Ark.

We’d like to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who helped us to reach our target.