THREE friends have raised over £60,000 for the Abersoch RNLI by completing a gruelling 48-hour challenge.

Peadar O’Reilly, Jon Raven and Tom Cropper completed the 4x4x48 challenge on Saturday, 15 May and smashed their target of £50,000.

The friends, who have previously dressed as nuns for Abersoch RNLI’s black and white themed New Year’s Day dip, have trained hard for this event all year.

With the dip cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions, Jon, Peadar and Tom launched Team Challenge, setting themselves on initial target raising £10,000 for Abersoch RNLI.

This rose to £50,000 following their hard work securing donations but last Saturday, as they crossed the finish line, their exhaustion was quickly replaced with beaming smiles as they learned that donations had shot up to £60,000 and were still growing.

Andy Gunby, Abersoch RNLI Helm, joined the team on Saturday morning to offer his support with a socially distanced four-mile run.

Following the challenge, the trio said: “The final run coming along the beach and seeing friends and family gathered and the lifeboat out on the sand made us pick up speed on the home straight.”

Agreeing on the worst moments, they added: “The alarm clock ringing at 1.45am to get us up for the 2am runs was never a pleasant experience and the 6am run on day two was pretty unpleasant as the rain was hammering down.”

Phill Brown, Abersoch RNLI chair said: "We are overwhelmed and of course delighted with the significant sum raised by Peadar, Jon and Tom.

“Their hard work and commitment has been truly exceptional and it’s a huge thank you from all of us at Abersoch RNLI.”

Sue McCann, chair of the fundraising committee, presented the trio with well-deserved medals.

She said: “Due to the coronavirus pandemic all our fundraising activities were cancelled last year and also this year too, which has had a significant impact on the local lifeboat station.

“The effort made by these three friends in raising such a huge amount of money for us truly is exceptional and very much appreciated.”

To add to the fundraiser, visit https://praetura.enthuse.com/pf/team-challenge