Aberdour man's world record breaking challenge

Sam Brenkel will embark on his ‘JOG to the Black Sea’ on June 10, a journey in four parts which will begin at John O’Groats (JOG) and end in Romania, raising money for two international charities, PEAS and Restless Development.

During his charity challenge Sam, who recently finished working for a marketing company in Dubai, will cycle from his northern starting point all the way down to Dover. From there he will attempt to swim the English channel.

After arriving in Calais in France he will cycle south-east to the Black Forest in Germany, then in the final stage Sam will attempt to break the Guinness world record for kayaking the 2,800km length of the Danube which flows in the Black Sea where his challenge will end.

Sam previously cycled across America in 2012 but says this will be a far tougher challenge and is currently following a tough training regime, which includes regular swims in the Forth at Aberdour’s Silver Sands.

“I’m a little nervous, particularly about the swim as that’s going to be really hard.

“But I want to spread the message that anyone can achieve anything.

“You don’t need to be a professional, you don’t need extreme levels of talent and it doesn’t take an unrealistic amount of money to achieve your dreams.

“I want to show that with sufficient commitment and motivation, any human can achieve their ambitions and provide inspiration for others to do the same.”

You can follow Sam throughout his adventure as he blogs daily with stories, pictures and videos on his website www.jogtotheblacksea.com.