ory


shock of what’s to come. It’s the one we’ve all been dreading: a 200 step vertical climb up the side of the Newport Bridge - a daunting monster of engineering, renowned for bringing to an end many a River Rat Racers’ dream of completing the course.


We start the ascent. Ahead, we can already see people stopping; pale-faced and petrified, they despondently retreat back, defeated by the scale of the challenge. Heroically our students press on, leading the rest of the team who follow suit.


exhausted and emotional but euphoric at the thought By now, we all know the end will soon be in sight and


the group cheers: “Come on Rievaulx,


keep going, nearly there!" We know nothing can stop us as we approach the final big challenge: walking the plank


of what we’ve just achieved. We all embrace, celebrating our moment, surrounded by friends and family who are bursting with pride.


We are proud too, of our historic feat and all the effort that has enabled us to achieve it. We know we’ve overcome greater barriers today than any obstacle course could ever set – we’ve proved that disability shouldn’t hold anyone back from achieving their dreams, goals and aspirations, and made a real statement for inclusion. The Rievaulx Rat Race Team - true champions.


You First | www.c-i-c.co.uk | 9


After what feels like a lifetime, we reach the top. 80ft in the air we turn back and review the panorama of the course; rows of people like a trail of tiny ants following in our path. The wind whistles in our ears and all at once we are terrified, captivated, and elated. We finish our descent and look at the faces around us: tired but wide-eyed, astounded at what we’ve just achieved. But no time to reflect. We’re back in the freezing waters for 500m of kayaking. The river is choppy but it's brilliant fun and we are in high-spirits as we climb back onto the banks of the river.


of the Galleon Ship - a 25ft drop into the river. Again, we see more people turn back than make the leap. Not us though, we ready ourselves to dive into the freezing waters and… “1..2..3 JUMP!” We plunge deep into the cold water, gasping for air as we surface.


We swim back to land, quickly getting to our feet ready for the final stretch. Lungs burning, legs aching but a steely determination keeps moving us forward. Only 500 yards to go, suddenly, we are sprinting, faster, faster, faster…the finish line appears..the noise of the crowd is deafening "Go Go Go!”…one last burst… nearly there…only a few more steps… and…we’re FINISHED!!!!


As we stand at the finish line, medals draped around our necks and tears in our eyes, we’re


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