On Friday 22nd July, ‘Prosperity Day’ unleashed corporate rivalry in Broad Street and witnessed pedal-mania pandemonium in a static bike race for for local charities.
Created by technology company Prosperity 24.7, the event saw twelve local firms ‘vent their fury’ during multiple resistance trainer relays. The races used BKOOL turbo trainers that were hooked up to computers, taking cyclists up a ‘virtual mountain’ and transforming Broad Street into the Col du Tourmalet; the highest paved mountain pass in the French Pyrenees and a ruthless stage of the Tour de France.
The races comprised of 30 minute heats and saw participants race against their neighbours to cover the greatest distance and make it onto the leader board. At 3:30pm, the three top firms, who made it the furthest up the ‘virtual mountain’, entered their best cyclist to pedal for glory in the final 10 lap virtual velodrome sprint. A brilliant effort from Johnny Hickling who represented his team, Robert Kirkby and Ben Seymour-Smith, in the final and pushed KPMG Channel Islands to victory, with Sure Jersey and Camerons following in second and third place of the cycling race.
The challenge didn’t stop there, with points from the race only contributing to a portion of the scores collected by the teams, the remaining points were determined by the teams’ fundraising efforts. The overall winners were announced at the Prosperity Day awards evening, held at the Jersey Museum. KPMG Channel Islands remained on top and won the Prosperity Day trophy, while top fundraisers Sure Jersey came in second place. With great fundraising efforts Bedell Group managed to move up the leader board into third place, with Camerons following in fourth position.
With an outstanding distance of 135 kilmometers cycled, Prosperity Day was a brilliant team achievement, driven by determination, a little corporate rivalry, but most importantly a mission for charity. Prosperity 24.7 have so far collated £10,480 for Caring Cooks of Jersey and WetWheels Jersey, with more donations still being received and always welcome – https://race-nation.com/donate/212 .
Chris Clark, CEO of Prosperity 24.7, says:
‘Prosperity Day 2016 has been absolutely fantastic and everyone involved from our team went above and beyond to help create a brilliant event. It’s all about combining our expertise in technology with sportsmanship, corporate fury and, most importantly, it’s about giving back. All competitors deserve serious commendation for busting their gut, not just for their company’s pride, but for the money they helped raise for two awesome charities; Caring Cooks of Jersey and WetWheels Jersey.
The virtual reality turbo trainers really allowed us to step up the challenge and host a section of the Tour de France right in the heart of St Helier. It’s a big challenge and draws in a lot of corporate rivalry. We’ve already got five teams signed up for next year’s event who are eager to claim the Prosperity Day trophy.
We would like to thank Big Maggy’s for the loan of bikes and BKOOL for delivering such incredibly technology. A huge thanks also goes to JT who provided the all essential Wi-Fi on the day. Barannes and Race Nation also need to be thanked for their refreshments and fund raising platform respectively. Last but not least, a massive thank you has to go to Marisa Hamon and our team at Prosperity 24.7, they are truly the backbone of Prosperity Day.’
You can see all the results from Prosperity Day on the Prosperity 24.7 website, Facebook and Twitter. Even though Prosperity Day 2016 has now come to an end, you can still make a positive contribution and donate through Race Nation: https://race-nation.com/prosperity-day-2016-jersey
