How we raced a cruise ship and raised £14k

In one of the hottest weeks of the year Sam Cox and three colleagues raced P&O Cruises ship Britannia 230 miles from Liverpool to Southampton for charity

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It was 5pm, the temperature was over 30 degrees and I was flagging.

Over the previous four days, I had run from Liverpool to Worcester, along with three of my colleagues from P&O Cruises, during one of the hottest weeks of the year. I was passing people starting their evenings with ice-cold drinks in inviting-looking beer gardens, and there was me, just over halfway through a 230-mile race - against a cruise ship!

It all began when one of my colleagues, Mark Price, approached me in the office and asked, "Fancy racing Britannia for charity?"

His idea was to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust, which provides specialist units in hospitals for young people with cancer, and Saints Foundation, the charity of Southampton Football Club (a partner of P&O Cruises), which supports people in need throughout the city.