Cornish beer icon Betty Stogs, aka Fred Thomas, who will complete the final lap of the Rally4Haiti students’ fund-raising multi-athlon event in Cornwall

Cornish beer icon Betty Stogs, aka Fred Thomas, will do his own “Olympic torch” act in the grand finale to a multi-athlon event by students aiming to raise at least £10,000 for the ShelterBox disaster relief charity.

Over the weekend of May 8-9, some 50 students will run, walk, swim, sail, cycle and kayak their way around the Cornish coastline and overland, starting and finishing at Falmouth in “Rally4Haiti.”

Their circumnavigation of Cornwall will be spread over 17 legs. The last one will be a sail back from St Mawes to Falmouth’s Prince of Wales Pier.

Waiting at the pier will be “Betty” – figurehead for Truro-based Skinners Brewery – who will take over from the students and run through the town to The Front bar, where there will be a special finish ceremony followed by a big party for participants, supporters and spectators.

A baton – in the form of a bottle of Betty Stogs ale – will be carried throughout the rally, being handed over to Fred for the final lap through the town.

The bottle will be dipped in resin and securely stowed in the base of a backpack for the duration – but there will be a secondary baton riding in a support vehicle, just in case.

Rally4Haiti logo

For the celebration party, Skinners are donating three casks of Betty Stogs beer and The Front will give £1 to Rally4Haiti from every pint of Betty Stogs sold. An 18-pint Skinners voucher will be auctioned, with all proceeds to the charity.

Rally articipants will be followed through software provided by Viewranger that will enable them to navigate on their phones and support crew and other observers to track progress with the aid of a Betty Stogs icon.