MELROSE rugby coaches completed a 41-mile exercise challenge at the weekend.

Bruce Ruthven, Nicholas Alston and Blair Roden travelled from Moffat to Melrose on Saturday (August 8) by running, swimming, kayaking and cycling.

The trio collected more than £3,000 for the Move With Mark fundraiser, launched in June by Lachlan Gaddie and his sister Hannah after their father Mark was diagnosed with cancer.

“We’re really delighted with how the whole day went,” said Ruthven, Melrose RFC’s head coach.

The Move With Mark challenge has now generated more than £11,000, with donations going to the Borders General Hospital (BGH) and the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

Car salesman Mark Gaddie, of Melrose, has been receiving treatment at the Edinburgh hospital five times a week. It comes a decade on from his wife’s death from cancer in the BGH.

As part of the Move With Mark challenge, Lachlan and Hannah have each been covering 13.7 miles every day – and they have encouraged others to cover the same distance by swimming, running, cycling or rowing.

Yet on Saturday, Ruthven, Alston (Melrose under-18s coach) and Roden (Melrose Storm manager) stepped up to the plate and decided to set themselves the task of covering 41 miles.

Beginning at Moffat Rugby Club’s ground at 9am, they ran 15 miles to St Mary’s Loch.

They then completed a one-mile kayak, followed by a 400-metre open swim and, lastly, a 25-mile cycle to Melrose via Selkirk and Abbotsford.

“We had the run finished by 11.30am, so we had probably the toughest part of the day out the way by lunchtime and then the rest of the day was really quite pleasant,” said Ruthven, who lives in Peebles.

The journey went by without a hitch, according to Ruthven, who expressed gratitude to the group’s 12-strong “support team”, as well as the dozens of well-wishers lining the route.

“There must have been close to 70 people throughout the day following us, which really helped,” said Ruthven.

“They’re quite winding and twisting roads but we had no issues whatsoever – it went really smoothly.”

He added: “We managed to complete the 41 miles in about six hours, which was the time we were aiming for.”

Ruthven said he came up with the challenge because of his desire to help Hannah and Lachlan. Lachlan plays rugby for Melrose.

“It was really just to support Hannah and Lachlan who are going through a challenging and difficult time,” said Ruthven.

“The whole club got behind the challenge and I’d like to think that’s a sign of things to come for Melrose Rugby Club. The support we had was overwhelming at times.”

To donate to the fundraising site set up by Ruthven, Alston and Roden, you can visit the ‘Moffat to Melrose’ page on JustGiving.com