Student with Ulcerative Colitis to make Scottish Cycling Hour Record attempt for charity

Student with Ulcerative Colitis to make Scottish Cycling Hour Record attempt for charity

A student from Abertay University in Dundee will attempt to break the Scottish Cycling Hour Record as part of a charity bid for Crohn’s & Colitis UK.

Marketing and Business student Nico Anelli, who has inflammatory bowel condition Ulcerative Colitis, will make the attempt at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow this Sunday (Nov 28), having come within close reach of the milestone in practice sessions.

Nico is on Abertay’s Elite Athlete Development Programme and leads Real Guts Racing, a cycling team which aims to raise awareness of bowel disease and what can be possible while living with the condition.

The Scottish Cycling Hour Record sees riders aim to set the greatest distance travelled in the span of one hour, with the current record of 46.650 kilometres retained by Jim Gladwell from Edinburgh since 1996.

Over the last few years, Nico has won a series of time trial races including the Fife Time Trials Series earlier this year and has also finished in the top 10 in several UK road and track events.

He is raising both awareness and money for Crohn’s & Colitis UK through a fundraising page.

Nico said: “It’s pretty exciting to be taking on a Scottish record that’s stood for around quarter of a century and I’m determined to do it both for myself and for the charity.

“Cycling is my absolute passion in life and I want to show others out there suffering from chronic conditions that they don’t need to be held back by their illness.

“If you have enough passion and determination you can achieve a lot and a huge amount of it is about having the right mindset to take on new challenges instead of assuming you can’t do something.

 “It’s been fantastic to have so much support from my classmates and lecturers from Abertay and it’s been great to be part of the University’s Elite Athlete Development Programme which has given me access to additional financial and academic support.

“I’m so pleased to be raising funds and awareness for Crohn’s & Colitis UK and I want more people to know about the great work that they do and all the help that’s out there for people to work towards their own goals.”

Claire Milloy, Community and Events Manager, Crohn’s & Colitis UK: “We’re so grateful to Nico and his team-mates for raising awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis Every penny raised will help us support the 500,000 people across the UK who live with the conditions.

“Living with an invisible condition such as Crohn’s or Colitis can be tough, but it need not be a barrier to aiming high and achieving your goals. Good luck Nico!”

The event is open to spectators and will be livestreamed globally on Real Guts Racing’s Twitch page.

A JustGiving page to donate to Nico’s fundraising efforts for Crohn’s & Colitis UK can be found here.