A YEAR-long charity fitness challenge completed by four local residents has ended — much to their relief.

‘Project 66795’ tested the willpower and mental fortitude of the quartet, with the challenge title referring to the number of ‘burpees’ they completed over the year.

They set out to do burpees each day of the year, adding one each day — on January 1 they performed one burpee, January 2, two burpees, July 19, 200, July 20, 201, with the grand finale being 365 burpees in one day on New Year’s Eve — to knotch up a grand total of 66,795 burpees in a year.

In November, the Times spoke with ringleader of the Tavistock challenge Nick Lane of NLFitness in Westbridge Industrial Estate about this extreme challenge. At that point the team had raised £1,205 for MIND, the mental health charity, but the total now stands at £3,000.

Nick was joined in the challenge by Phil Slater, Malcolm Pollock following the same format with press-ups and Kathy Allen doing the same with squats.

When the challenge was complete, Nick expressed thanks to everyone for their support and donations.

‘A huge well-done to Malcolm, Phil and Kathy for completing the challenge — they had a way harder time than me trying to fit them in around busy family lives and long work hours. 

‘But if there’s some key takeaways from the year, it’s that you can get anything done if you have a plan, get your head down and crack on.

‘Although the year was physically challenging, it reminded us discipline, time management and a strong will can take you a long way.’

The JustGiving fundraising page will remain open until the end of January, to donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/project66795