I’ve been at the club for eight years, and I always enjoy hearing about the members and staff taking on different challenges both for personal adventure and for charity.
The allure has finally bitten me and this coming weekend I’ll be taking on the London Marathon, 26.2 miles of running madness, along with almost 60,000 other people from around the world! I’ve done lots of charity challenges before, but this is probably towards the madder end of the spectrum, which has included previously jumping out of planes and swimming 600 lengths of a pool in one day!
It has been a case of tasting my own medicine as all the swim group members will confirm as I’ve had to be super disciplined with training, come rain or shine (mainly rain for the last 6 months) as well as making better choices with food (big thanks to Ian Riches for the support here!) all with the aim of getting to the start line in the best physical and mental space possible to take on the challenge. So far in my training I’ve ticked off 8x half marathon distances (or longer) but are yet to hit the dreaded wall in training… so something to look forward to! A huge thank you to Club Directors Stephen and Tiff for the club support in my fundraising and also to the AMAZING spa therapists who have kept my legs my moving as I’ve racked up more than 300 miles of running over the last six months.
The charity I’m running for is one I believe wholeheartedly in and the work that the Coach Core Foundation does is really inspiring. Blending together the power of apprenticeships and the inspirational value of sport, the foundation supports young people into employment through funded apprenticeships across the country, helping them become change makers in their local community. Since the founding of the charity following the London 2012 Olympics, they have supported over 1100 apprentices and through their delivery of over 100,000 community sports sessions have impacted 1.5 million people. Every pound I raise goes directly to funding and supporting future apprentices, and as the recipient of a swimming coaching apprenticeship more than two decades ago, it is a privilege to be able to pay this forwards.
I’ll be back on poolside on Monday 27th April in the evening for my class, hopefully still standing! If you’re able to support my journey it would be greatly appreciated.
Coach Kev
