Friends finish rickshaw run across India
THREE friends who embarked on a 1,800 mile journey across India as part of the Rickshaw Run have completed their journey.
William Allen, 31, his brother Robert-James Allen, 27, and Sam Rawlings, 28, arrived in the southern neighbourhood of Fort Kochi last Sunday, where a ceremony was held for the 65 teams taking part.
The trio began their trip in Jaisalmer in Northern India on 2 January, and were raising money for two Indian charities.
William Allen said it was bittersweet to have finally crossed the finishing line.
‘I won’t miss the means of travel and the driving conditions,’ he said.
‘The rickshaw felt pretty cramped after a few hours and some of the local drivers on the road were frankly insane, but overall it’s been amazing to spend some time with the local people and it has been a great way to see the country. I’m so pleased that we decided to do it.’
While the actual driving was largely uneventful, Mr Allen explained that he had become unwell with only a handful of days of the trip remaining.
‘I unfortunately came down with a nasty bout of food poisoning, so was not feeling particularly great for the last part of the journey. I certainly won’t miss eating curry for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,’ he said.
The team, known as Cumin Resources, came home in 10th place overall, and with their auto rickshaw still intact. The same could not be said for some of the other teams however.
‘I think all team members got to the end, but a few were lacking their rickshaws and so had to find other modes of transport to get to the finish,’ Mr Allen said.
Teams were ultimately far more concerned with how much money they had been able to raise, and Mr Allen was delighted that his team had managed to raise over £2,800 to date. The money will be split between the team’s chosen charities – Cool Earth and The Rescue Foundation.
Mr Allen added that he would recommend doing the Rickshaw Run to anyone, albeit with one caveat.
‘You need to be super confident on the road. The driving over here is incredibly dangerous at times and we saw quite a few overturned trucks and other accidents on our journey. If you can deal with that, then I would definitely recommend it,’ he said.
n Details of the team’s fundraising can be found at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rickshaw-run2022cuminresources.
n To find out more about The Rickshaw Run, go to www.theadventurists.com/rickshaw-run/
