Phil Holmes, the brother of Rhinos legend John, who lost his battle with cancer back in 2009, has completed his Benburb to Headingley cycle alongside Keith Senior and a team of 10 cyclists.
Phil, who is a committee member on the Leeds Rhinos Players Association and a keen supporter of Leeds Rugby Foundation, teamed up with a team of nine other close relatives and friends to raise money for Cancer Research UK and The Sue Ryder Wheatfield's Hospice.
The 'Benburb 2 Headingley Cycle', saw the team set off from Benburb, Northern Ireland on Monday 28th April and cycle through other rugby league homes of Widnes, Warrington, St. Helens, Wigan and Bradford before eventually arriving at Headingley Carnegie Stadium at around 3pm today ready for the kick-off of the Rhinos v Wigan Warriors.
It's all in memory of Phil's brother and Leeds legend, John Holmes as well as cousin Billy Williamson who both sadly lost their battles against cancer back in 2009.
Leeds legend John Holmes, made 625 appearances for Leeds, including playing in 19 Finals, emerging victorious on 14 occasions. Over twenty glorious seasons the boy from Kirkstall Road, who made his debut as a 16 year old, matured into one of the most gifted men ever to don the famous colours. Many felt he had his finest hour dragging Leeds back from the brink against St Helens at Wembley in 1978.
Phil Holmes commented: "The team have pulled me through one hell of a challenge. We just kept going through pouring rain on our penultimate day and then we climbed the pennines on our final day. I must thank Andrew Williamson who has organised the hotels, the route, the ferry. It was all spot on, so a big thanks must go to him.
"We have raised over £14,000 so far and I would love if we could get to the £20k mark. It is split between two charities; Sue Ryder Wheatfields and Cancer UK. If we can give them £10,000 each that would be brilliant so please keep donating."
"My brother John and obviously my cousin Billy will hopefully both be looking down and are pleased with what we have done!"
Keith Senior who has just completed his 4 marathons in 4 weeks commented: "It's been tough but a good eye opener for me ahead of the Quest14 challenge at the end of June (visit www.leedsrugbyfoundation.org for details). The first day inparticular was 100 miles and that was so tough, especially after completing my marathons.
"But it's been a great team effort and I am relieved to now finish. We all came in together at the end which was brilliant."
Fans can show their support by visiting www.Benburb2headingley.co.uk