We’re super proud of our guys in the Commercial Department, having completed the Edinburgh Marathon in May. Of course, there was a little scepticism from fellow co-workers, but Patrick McCafferty, Kai McArthur and Liam Doran, soon put them right.
We had a catch-up with Kai to learn more about how the lead-up and day of the race went.
Firstly, why pick Edinburgh to do a marathon?
The date that the Edinburgh marathon fell on gave us a realistic amount of time to prepare. Also me, Kai & Pat have a mate who lives up there.
Ah ok. I understand you raced for a charity, tell me about the charities you are supporting and why?
We were racing to help raise funds and awareness for Prostate Cancer UK. More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year on average. That’s 143 men every day. 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
How much have you managed to raise so far?
£1,625.00
How was the training? Did you prepare yourself well?
The training wasn’t as strict as I had planned. We missed a few of the programmed weeks, which led to some weeks of playing catch up.
What about your diet? Were there any particular foods you ate to fuel you for this run?
Two days leading up to the run, I was just eating any source of carbohydrates. This is called ‘carb loading’, where you increase the amount of carbohydrate stores to allow you to endure the later miles.
Wasn’t the Luton match on the night before the race? Did you get to celebrate the win?
I had a few beers before the game. Unfortunately, me and Kai had to leave the game at full time to catch our flight, so we ended up having to watch the penalties via Facetiming Kai’s mum in the taxi to Heathrow!!!!
Was there anyone on the Edinburough sidelines supporting you?
No one due to Luton Game – couldn’t have fallen on a worse weekend!
How did you feel at the start of the race?
The people of Edinburgh created an energetic atmosphere, and at each mile snacks/fuels were handed out to all the runners. There was also a great sense of camaraderie amongst the runners.
How did you feel at the 13 mile, 21 mile points?
I felt good up to both these points. Everything was going well until the 22nd mile, and the last 4.2 miles were a pure mental challenge.
What time did you cross the finish line?
3hr 55min
That’s a brilliant time. How are you feeling now? You guys must be so proud of yourselves.
I feel happy I completed the race without stopping & I achieved completing it in under 4hrs. In January, I could barely complete 5km without stopping!
So, what’s up next? Are you going to hang up those marathon trainers or stick to footie, or is another near-death charity stunt coming soon?
I’m not entirely sure what the next venture will be, we will see next year. For now, I’m just going to enjoy my summer.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Cmonn you hatters!!!
To help our commercial champions raise further funds for their chosen charity ‘Prostate Cancer UK’ you can make a donation to their just giving charity page, link below.
https://bit.ly/3oMqqus
