Media Release 4 December 2006

Introducing‘The Dosa Boys’

What do you get if you put an English professional gambler, a Kiwi television editor and a Vietnamese physicist together in a rickshaw for three weeks in India? Well, we're about to find out…

Kiwi Nick Reid, Englishman Ivan Phillips and Vietnamese born Andy Hoang have never met one another. A posting on an online noticeboard was the start of what we hope will become a beautiful friendship. The three make up 'The Dosa Boys', just one of thirty teams entered in the infamous Rickshaw Run.

This Christmas holidays The Dosa Boys and their competitors will be driving a three wheeled motorized rickshaw with a top speed of 20 miles an hour. They will traverse 3000 miles of highways, desert sands, jungles, bustling cities, mountains, villages, mud tracks and the tropical heat of the Indian subcontinent in the first long distance rickshaw race ever held.

The race was created to raise money for Mercy Corps, who alleviates suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. From Cochin in the south to Darjeeling in the north east, the teams have 19 days to complete the route.

Hamilton born Nick Reid is keen to share his adventures along the way, and you can keep up to date with the team's progress before, during and after the race at http://dosaboys.blogspot.com/ He is both excited and understandably apprehensive about meeting for the first time and traveling with his team mates for three weeks in a small vehicle just big enough to fit three people in let alone there luggage through the Indian wilderness. 'Well, I'm a television techie, Ivan is a pro gambler and Andy is a physicist. Quite a good combination I think – in fact we couldn't have planned it better – that is, if we'd done any planning at all.'

All three will be arriving in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Boxing Day to begin pimping their rickshaw before the 28 December 2006 start for what will be a hilarious nineteen days. The trio are seeking sponsors and contributors to help raise their target of 950 british pounds for Mercy Corps. To contribute to The Dosa Boys and help raise money for Mercy Corps, please go to http://www.justgiving.com/thedosaboys/

To find out more about The Rickshaw Run visit http://www.rickshawrun.com

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