Radio 1's Red Nose Day challenges over the years

After completing a "Gregathlon" in 2016 and 2018, Radio 1’s Greg James is coming out of “challenge retirement” to take on his toughest test yet.

During the Longest Ride, Greg will attempt to cycle 630 miles (1,000km) across the UK on a tandem bike over eight days. Kicking off in Weymouth on Friday 13 March, he aims to pedal across England and parts of Wales, then all the way to Edinburgh on Friday 20 March, in aid of Red Nose Day.

In honour of his return to the saddle, we’re looking back on a decade of extreme, ridiculous, and emotional challenges that the Radio 1 team have taken on in honour of Comic and Sports Relief.

Listen live to Radio 1 to keep up with the latest details on The Longest Ride, or visit bbc.co.uk/greg!

And read on to look back over the last ten years of challenges...

Ten years ago, Greg undertook his first big challenge for Sports Relief, completing five triathlons in five days in five cities – Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Sheffield, and Norwich.

Greg swam, ran and cycled a total of 246.3 miles to raise over £800,000 for Sport Relief. He got plenty of support along the way, including from Nick Grimshaw and Example who joined his run through Sheffield.

Greg vowed ‘never again’ after taking on the mammoth task but as we all know, he did not stick to his word – taking on the Pedal to the Peaks challenge during the Beast from the East and of course he is taking on yet another challenge this year.

Catch up with his 2016 challenge here.

In 2017 Scott Mills and Chris Stark ran the very first Radio 1 LOL-a-thon for Red Nose Day. Starting at 4pm on what was then Greg James’ Drivetime show and broadcasting through the night until 4pm the next day, the pair were joined by many of their Radio 1 colleagues and famous faces... and even some famous voices, thanks to the very convincing work of impressionist Luke Kempner.

Scott and Chris pulled out all the stops as the LOL-a-thon went late night from 8pm with ruder jokes including a comedy roasting, and a late night innuendo bingo. But it was all for a good cause as over £275,000 was raised for Comic Relief.

Gregathlon: Pedal to the Peaks saw Greg James battling freezing conditions, cycling hundreds of miles and climbing up the UK's highest mountains in aid of Sport Relief.

He managed to raise over £1 million, all thanks to the generosity of Radio 1 listeners.

Greg’s challenge saw him take on the Beast From the East, and after bravely battling for four days, on day five he was forced to postpone progress. But he triumphantly returned two weeks later to finish the job by scaling Ben Nevis!

Catch up with Greg's 2018 challenge here.

Scott Mills and Chris Stark were on air for an incredible 27 hours, broadcasting nothing but lols for Radio 1's LOL-a-thon.

With the help of some very special guests, they tickled the nation's funny bone for over an entire day, raising over £325,000 in donations!

They had LOLs with a number of famous faces including David Beckham and Jack Whitehall. Ricky Gervais joined the show to share a slightly depressing Unpopular Opinion, Love Island's Dr Alex read out your best Doctor Doctor jokes, and Scott and Chris made the ultimate Knock Knock joke at none other than 10 Downing Street.

Catch up with the 2019 challenge here.

Radio 1 brought together some of the biggest and most respected artists from the UK and around the world for the most ambitious Live Lounge in its history, in support of the Comic Relief’s Big Night In during the national lockdown.

The Stay Home Live Lounge saw some of the music industry’s biggest stars collaborating on a cover of the Foo Fighters’ ‘Times Like These’, including Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, Zara Larsson, Sam Fender, and of course Foo Fighters.

Scott and Chris were back with another 24-hour broadcast dedicated to pure hilarity to raise cash for Red Nose Day 2021.

The marathon show featured some of the nation’s biggest music and entertainment stars, including Little Mix, who met Superfan Steve, KSI, who revealed what he was like as a kid and a hilarious moment when Gandalf does Garage, which for the unacquainted involved Sir Ian McKellen performing a dramatic reading of the iconic track Babycakes by 3 Of A Kind.

The 2021 LOL-a-thon raised over £500,000 – which beat Scott and Chris’ fundraising efforts in 2019 and 2017.

Watch some of the highlights here.

In 2022 Jordan North was pushed to his absolute physical and mental limits as he tried to row 100 miles from London to Burnley for Comic Relief, despite having never rowed before.

Jordan navigated the country’s canals in a one-man boat, eight hours a day over five days, and battled the unpredictable British weather in the process. Day three was particularly difficult with Jordan saying at the time: “Mentally this has been the toughest day, it rained for most of it which really affected my mood and energy - plus it makes the whole body feel extra cold. I’m absolutely drained."

He had endless support along the way with his Radio 1 colleagues showing up to cheer him on and even his beloved Burnley Football Club shared their support.

In the end it was all worth it as Jordan raised more than £700,000 for Red Nose Day!

In 2023 Radio 1 DJ Arielle Free took on the Tour De Dance challenge to cycle 50 hours whilst DJing live, which raised over £500,000 for Red Nose Day and Comic Relief. Arielle was travelling around England, DJing on a 10-person bike across five cities for five days. She made it through York, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester before finishing her mammoth cycle in a snowy Liverpool. Radio 1 listeners and presenters joined her along the way on the group cycle to help her complete the challenge.

The challenge was no easy feat, and on day two Arielle's route in Leeds went from bad to worse. It already included a number of steep hills but when she accidentally went off course after the group took a wrong turn, everyone had to jump off the hefty 1.5 tonne bike and push Arielle and the bike up one of the hills. The exhaustion and cold conditions meant the mammoth challenge was not without its emotional moments.

Take a look back at some of the high and low moments here.

In March 2024 Mollie King embarked on a solo 500k cycling journey from London to Hull, the hometown of her late father. Over the course of five days Mollie took on this mammoth challenge without ever having cycled on roads before and she had some powerful personal motivation for wanting to get involved.

In 2022 Mollie lost her father and his passing was a huge inspiration for taking on the Red Nose Day challenge to help other people struggling. In the end it was all worth it, Mollie King’s Pedal Power for Red Nose Day on Radio 1 raised a massive £1,312,558 in donations from listeners.

In 2025 Jamie Laing ran an astonishing 150 miles between London and Salford, completing an incredible 5 ultra marathons in 5 consecutive days. Despite taking on the epic task, Jamie said that he had never run more than 5km (3.1 miles) before taking on the challenge. He was supported along the way by Radio 1 colleagues and listeners alike, and was even met by 50 lookalikes in Hyde Park, all donning blonde wigs.

Radio 1’s Ultra Marathon Man raised a staggering £2,260,547 for Comic Relief and inspired Manchester Marathon to officially rename the Chester Road route section as ‘Radio 1’s Laing Lane’, which is where Jamie crossed the finish line.