Today I am very excited to share with you an interview with Matt. Matt is doing something pretty incredible in April, he's running 7 marathons in 7 days. Matt is a friend of my sisters and unsurprisingly I have got to know him through our love of running. I'll leave the rest of the talking down to his interview... be prepared to be inspired! 1. What has inspired you to take up this challenge?I’ve always been keen to part take in a big challenge and do something for charity, but I never really knew what to do. It was actually after running the 2017 London Marathon, when I’d luckily got in through the ballot, I knew exactly what I could do.. It was all down to the inspiration behind it, which had always been there ever since I met my wife, Nellie. In brief, my wife lost her Mum, Jane Peckham-Cooper, back in 2002 where she was tragically taken away from her husband and 7 young children far too early, in a tragic car accident. This challenge is all in her memory and in what would have been her 70th year I thought it would be apt to run 7 marathons, one for each of the siblings, in a location of their choice in 7 consecutive days. 2. What locations are your 7 marathons in? So as mentioned, each marathon has been chosen by each of the 7 Peckham-Cooper siblings. I’ve asked them to chose a place which holds special importance or memories for them. So it all starts on Monday April 16th in Edinburgh for Angus, then we head South to Yorkshire for Adams marathon on the 17th. Wednesday 18th, we travel further South-West to Bristol for Miles.Then down to Cornwall for Roper on day 4 of the challenge, I’ll then be heading East up to Bournemouth on the 20th for Milly before coming back to my home county Kent on the Saturday for Ross, where the Peckham-Coopers all grew up. Then I’ll be finishing with my wife, Nellie, on Sunday 22nd where we are both running the London Marathon. 3. Which day(s) do you think you will find most challenging? Well, I’m hoping this isn’t the case, but all of them probably! I’m hoping that day one and two aren’t too bad, but I also know that Edinburgh & Yorkshire aren’t exactly known for being flat.. I’m expecting the middle few to be the toughest, as I think that running at home in Kent and then the London last with Nellie and all the support you get from the crowds will get me through, even if it is on adrenaline alone! 4. How are you preparing with your running to take on this challenge? So I’m not a massive runner really, my first Marathon was the London in 2017 and I quite enjoyed the training for that. However, this is another level, I’m trying to run at least 5 times a week and finding the time has to be the hardest thing. It’s just a case of getting the miles in my legs I think, as I don’t necessarily need to concentrate on pace or timings which I’ve found tough. Of course with that amount of running comes niggles and injuries, which have slowed me down a touch in certain periods but hopefully I’ll be as ready as I can when the challenge comes! 5. What are you most worried about during the lead up and during your 7 marathons? The main thing has to be letting people down, all the support/donations that you receive from people is amazing. It’s something that not only drives you to train & do it but also scares you, as you just don’t want to let people down. This partly, as I’ve said before, has to be through injuries, I’m known by all my family & friends for having ‘glass’ ankles from playing football and of course I’ve had a few issues with them which have put me back a little last year but they seem to be all ok now and I’ve got all the strapping you could imagine, so fingers crossed they shouldn’t be too much of an issue! 6. How have people reacted to this huge challenge you are taking on? The reaction I usually get from people when they first hear about the challenge is them questioning my sanity! Everyone thinks I’m mad...However, as mad as they think I am, everyone has been so supportive. It really has been incredible! Lots of people offering to help with organising bits, helping to get sponsors and so on. I know I’ve got a few people on board as well as the Peckham-Cooper’s to come and join me for some running during the marathons, whether that be a whole one or even just a part of it and of course it’s really appreciated, the more people running with me the merrier! If you want to continue to follow Matt's journey over his build up to the marathons then here are the details to his Instagram and website. Donations and sponsors are a hugely important aspect of this challenge so there are some details below if you want to donate or sponsor.
Instagram: @7marathonmatt Website: www.7marathonmatt.co.uk Donate: Just Giving Sponsor: 7marathonmatt
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HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
November 2018
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