Members of the Great Britain women’s hockey team rose to the challenge of supporting Sport Relief on Tuesday as they dribbled their way to the fastest mile with a hockey stick and ball in a time of four minutes and four seconds, smashing their target of Svetlana Masterkova’s one mile track record of four minutes 12 seconds.

The six participating squad members – Reading’s Laura Bartlett, Alex Danson and Emily Maguire and Leicester’s Crista Cullen, Hannah MacLeod and Kerry Williams - ‘dribbled’ the mile in a relay format in an exact time of four minutes, four seconds and 87 milliseconds.

The Sport Relief ‘Stick and Ball Mile’ took place during the squad’s training session at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre in Buckinghamshire and was filmed for the BBC’s South Today programme.

Cheered on by their watching Great Britain teammates, each member of the group ran one half of the pitch per shuttle before passing the ball on to the next athlete. In total they ran 17.6 lengths of the pitch.

Defender Crista Cullen explained afterwards why the squad had been so keen to take part: “We’re at a very exciting stage of our preparations ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London and it is nice to be able to take part in Sport Relief to benefit the young people of this country and others around the world, many of whom will hopefully be inspired by the Olympics.”

Forward Alex Danson added, “It was great fun doing the Sport Relief Mile in our own unique way. We were ecstatic to break the world record but more importantly we are so happy we had the opportunity to do our small bit for such a great charity like Sports Relief. It shows how anyone can take part and have a lot of fun, but best of all, it doesn’t have to just involve running!”

You can rise to your challenge by entering the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile on 21 March. Just 60 miles north of Bisham Abbey NSC, Milton Keynes is playing host to one of the largest Sport Relief Miles in the UK, with other Miles happening all over the UK. To find and enter your nearest Mile visit sportrelief.com

ENDS

Further information and rights free photography:
Lawrence West, GB Hockey PR & Sponsorship Officer, 01628 897509
Rights free photography
Credit: Neil Neville/EHB
Captions of images attached (high res versions available):
Reading and England Hockey’s Alex Danson takes part in Great Britain Hockey’s Stick and Ball Mile for Sport Relief
Leicester and England Hockey’s Kerry Williams takes part in Great Britain Hockey’s Stick and Ball Mile for Sport Relief
Reading and Scotland’s Laura Bartlett takes part in Great Britain Hockey’s Stick and Ball Mile for Sport Relief

HIGH RESOLUTION Images available of:
Laura Bartlett, Reading HC, Scotland & Great Britain Hockey
Crista Cullen, Leicester HC, England Hockey & Great Britain Hockey
Alex Danson, Reading HC, England Hockey & Great Britain Hockey
Hannah MacLeod, Leicester HC, England Hockey & Great Britain Hockey
Emily Maguire, Reading HC, Scotland & Great Britain Hockey
Kerry Williams, Leicester HC, England Hockey & Great Britain Hockey
The whole Great Britain women’s squad celebrating the group’s success

Sport Relief
As one of the UK’s biggest fundraising events, Sport Relief brings the entire nation together to get active, raise cash and change lives. The Sport Relief Weekend takes place from Friday 19th March to Sunday 21 March 2010 including a night of Sport Relief telly on BBC One and the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile events across the UK on Sunday 21st March. All the cash raised will help transform the lives of those in desperate need across the UK and the world’s poorest countries.

Since its launch in 2002, millions of people have taken part in Sport Relief, helping to raise over £80 million. Sport Relief has a unique history of dedicated people doing extraordinary things to rise to the challenge, from David Walliams’ astonishing swim across the English Channel to Eddie Izzard’s truly amazing marathon a day around the UK. Further information is available on www.sportrelief.com

Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland).