Trio to raise £250,000 to fight human trafficking through epic 2,000km duathlon

Here’s what they’re upto

A trio of adventurers will complete a two-week 2,000km duathlon across Eastern Europe in a bid to help eradicate modern-day slavery.

Averaging a daily distance of 35 miles on foot and 125 miles by bike, the three co-founders of natural sports nutrition brand TRIBE will be joined along the route by an expected 250 like-minded adventurers, as they complete one of the world’s toughest duathlons, Run for Love II.

Setting off on Friday 30 June in Sarajevo, Bosnia, lifelong friends Guy Hacking, Rob Martineau and Tom Stancliffe will travel through Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France, before ending in London, UK on Sunday 16 July.

The event succeeds 2013’s maiden Run For Love, a 1,000-mile challenge that raised £300,000 for child trafficking charity Love146, which also acted as the inspiration behind TRIBE. During the run, the team slept rough in freezing temperatures, outran packs of wild dogs, and experienced ligament damage and stress fractures during the intense challenge. The on-the-road experiences, support and community response following this has since inspired TRIBE to repeat the feat for a second fundraising drive.

Half of the £250,000 fundraising target raised by TRIBE’s Freedom Foundation charity arm will help trafficking charity Unseen launch a UK Modern Slavery Helpline. Ensuring its community are at the heart of everything TRIBE do, its members will also vote post-event on which UK human trafficking charity should receive the other 50%. In partnership with its charity partners, TRIBE are working towards a world without slavery.

Tom Stancliffe, TRIBE co-founder, said: “As well as laying the foundations for TRIBE, our maiden Run for Love raised a fantastic amount that helped fight human trafficking through our Freedom Foundation. This cause hasn’t gone away, and still more than 13,000 people live in slavery in the UK, a third of those being children.

“Alongside our valued community of everyday athletes we’re proud to break new boundaries for Run for Love II – in distance, in experiences, and in the differences we can make with our funds. As well as supporting victims of human trafficking, we can help to create a framework for the reporting, prevention and intervention of a modern-day slavery problem.”

Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of Unseen, said: “The world of slavery is a huge challenge that’s unbeknown to many, and Run for Love II’s support will not only shine a light on this very real problem, but help raise funds to operate our Modern Slavery Helpline in the UK for months to come. Through TRIBE’s Run for Love II, we’re able to develop an invaluable lifeline designed for victims seeking aid, and provide a tool for the public to help report, intervene and help prevent future occurrences of trafficking.”

Ahead of the journey, TRIBE are hosting two free public training events on 17/18 June. This includes a28-mile ultra-marathon runfrom Canterbury to Margate on 17 June and a 100-mile London to Brighton return cycle on 18 June. Loyal TRIBE members are also staging similar supportive events, including a back-to-back fundraising marathon run in Hong Kong on 1/2 July.

For those who want to become a part of the TRIBE community and take on the challenge of a lifetime registration details can be found at the Run for Love website (http://triberunforlove.com).

Run for Love II can be tracked on social media via #TribeRunForLove. Run for Love II’s dedicated microsite, TribeRunForLove.com, will also run a GPS-tracking interactive map alongside regular team updates, videos and images.