Supporting James Golding’s Race Across America

James Golding is a man who has already achieved the unimaginable. From surviving cancer twice to smashing world cycling records and raising over £3 million for charity, it seems that James is capable of truly anything he puts his mind to. We’re incredibly proud to be supporting him in his next endeavour as he takes on the epic endurance cycling challenge in Race Across America in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

First held in 1982, Race Across America (RAAM) is an ultra-distance road cycling event taking place across the United States. Competitors travel from the West Coast to the East Coast, over a distance of approximately 3,000 miles.

It is James’ goal to become the first Brit to win the race and he has overcome enough adversity in his life to demonstrate that he is capable of pretty much anything. Back in 2008, he was diagnosed with cancer, given just a 5% chance of survival and put into a coma for two weeks. After recovering against all odds, he was again diagnosed with cancer in 2011 when his partner, Louise, was expecting their first child.

It was cycling that would play a major part in not only helping him to get fit and strong but also improving his mental resilience and helping him through subsequent bouts of depression. Surviving his ordeal and cycling taught James that nothing is impossible. In 2017, less than a decade after James was told he'd probably die, he broke the Guinness Seven Day Cycling Record. And this was really only the beginning. You can find out more about James’ journey and his gruelling training regime in the Red Bull short film Meet The Man Who Refused To Die: James Golding.

This week James begins the epic Race Across America to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. We are thrilled to have been able to support him in this endeavour by offering a unique experience for fundraisers.

A range of high-profile businesses have formed fundraising teams that will be racing against James using Wattbikes. We have developed a Craft CMS site that integrates with the Wattbike API. Funds will be raised via online giving platform Givestar and so we have also integrated with their API. All of this will allow teams to display their distance travelled and funds raised. They will also be able to track their position against James as he starts his journey in Oceanside, California and races across the USA to Annapolis, Maryland.

As well as Craft CMS web development, we carried out design and UX for the site. This included designing all of the UI for the RAAM map and different map views, including toggles to zoom. We also designed a dashboard to give an easy overview of leaders and showcase James' statistics. These too have a clear UI which allows for easy navigation to more detailed statistics. The individual team profiles give an overview of how the teams are doing. Overall the designs deliver an engaging experience for both the fundraisers and individuals who wish to follow and support James.

This has been a great project to work on. We recently introduced charity days which offer staff time to work pro bono on projects and this has allowed the team to apply their expertise to a great and deserving cause. But alongside this, it has provided an opportunity to do something a little different with Craft CMS. We’re often asked if we can integrate with APIs and it’s something we do all the time, but a project such as this, clearly shows our capabilities in action.

To follow James’ race, head over to his RAAM Challenge site where you can keep a close eye on his progress and donate to the fundraiser for Great Ormond Street Hospital. And, if you’d like to know more about this project, get in touch.