Cisco is proud to announce that five of its employees, with a penchant for cycling, took part in a gruelling 200 km timed relay race this weekend to raise money forThe Benevolent Society.

The Benevolent Society (TBS) aims to help people, families and communities achieve positive change. This year the charity turns 200, and to celebrate its birthday the charity arranged for 200 cyclists to race 200 kms in its first ever cycling challenge -Race for Change.

The group of brave cyclists from Cisco's Sydney office trained hard over a 6-week period. The team, or Cisco Tumblers, as they've named themselves, put in around 400 kms of cycling between them each week -that's a total of over 2,000 kms of cycling over the 6 weeks! The Cisco Tumblers didn't just bond as a team on the streets and parks of Sydney but virtually as well, by using Webex meetings to keep everyone up-to-date on training plans, the event and individuals' progress; all to make sure they were race-ready for the big event.

As well as the intense training, the team found time to fundraise a$4450 for TBS and with donations remaining open until May 30th it is expected that this figure will grow

The team, consisting of: Richard Middelberg, Adam Winchester, Neil Armstrong, Janine Gaynor and Bernard Dunn, completed the gruelling race in just 6.5 hours -quicker than their target of 7 and a half hours. This place the Cisco Tumblers 16th overall. More importantly the team are currently in 8th place for their fundraising efforts.

We want to send a huge congratulations to the Cisco Tumblers -they've shown real determination to fundraise a substantial amount of money for TBS which will help to make a marked difference to people's lives across Australia. Donations are still being accepted on theteam's donation page, and Cisco, the team and TBS would be grateful for any further donations received.

Readers are also encouraged to check out the Cisco Cycling Network, a Cisco community of cyclists with a mission to promote wellness and social responsibility throughout the APJC region