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Computacenter employee embarks on Polar challenge for charity

North Pole Race

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March 2011

A Computacenter account manager will swap his desk for skis and snowboots next month when he embarks on a 30-day race to the North Pole.

Arctic adventurer Rob MacAlister is taking part in The Polar Race to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Support.

IT services and solutions provider Computacenter is providing sponsorship and technology support to help Rob complete his frosty feat, which involves crossing 350 miles of sea ice, boulders and gullies in temperatures of minus 40 degrees centigrade. Rob will provide ongoing updates via Twitter and his blog during his travels.

Rob is one of a team of three, known as the Polar Slugs, who will be completely self-sufficient throughout the race, which means pulling their provisions on sledges weighing up to 70 kilos. Rob commented: "We have been in training for over a year now and are ready to face the Arctic conditions. As well as walking 12.6 miles to the office on a regular
basis, I have completed a 36-hour endurance orienteering race through Dartmoor."

The Polar Slugs will set off on their icy escapade on 10 April 2011 from Northern Canada and travel by skis and foot to the 1996 Magnetic North Pole. The North Arctic is one of the harshest terrains on the planet, and race contestants will have to endure a diet of dehydrated meals, cope with exhaustion in sub-freezing temperatures, trek across dangerously thin sea ice and face one of the world's deadliest land-based predators – the polar bear.

Barry Hoffman, HR Director at Computacenter commented: "Rob has been an asset to Computacenter's account team for 13 years, and we wish him all the best in his quest to undertake one of the most gruelling races on earth in order to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support."

Rob hopes to raise more than £5,000 for MacMillan Cancer Support, which helps to improve the lives of people affected by cancer by providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support.

To sponsor Rob, please visit:
www.justgiving.com/Rob-MacAlister



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For further information, please contact:

Alex Brooks / Kate Mills
Rocket PR
computacenter@rocketcomms.net
08453 707 024

Tessa Freeman
PR Manager
tessa.freeman@computacenter.com
+44 (0) 7801 452076