A trio of fund-raisers were the last ones standing as they cycled from Fleetwood to Liverpoool for Rosemere cancer Foundation

Matt Beardwell, 24, of Euxton, Matthew Beardsworth, 40, of Preston, and Martyn Climpson, 50, of Ormskirk – completed the 114km ride in just under six and a half hours. They were supposed to be part of a group four times bigger, which included Matt’s dad Stephen Beardwell, who came up with the idea and mapped the route. But a back injury forced Stephen, who works for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, to pull out with just days to go, making him the last of a long list of casualties.

Matt, who now lives in Wigan, said: “The three of us were very lucky and missed all the rain. My dad met us when we reached Southport for our lunch stop. It was unfortunate he and the others had suffered injuries as we’d all been training for the challenge.”

In May, Matt completed the Chester Half Marathon to raise more than £300 for the charity, which is close to his heart after he lost his mum Julie to ovarian cancer in 2016. Julie had been a patient at Rosemere Cancer Centre, after being diagnosed with the disease in 2013. Over the past six years, Stephen, Matt and friends have raised more than £6,000 for the cancer foundation by taking on cycle challenges and sponsored runs.