Real Files
What Profiles does for our sponsored Elite Athletes, Real Files does for, well, real people. People who are committed to their sport or cause, who measure their success by personal bests, money raised and goals reached.
This is the section of Community where I want to talk with and about athletes who have inspirational stories to tell. On a personal note, it has been a great couple of months for me as I have got to know some amazing people who are going out of there way to help others and pushing themselves to the limit.
Stuart Potter – Biggest Journey
Name: Stuart Potter
Sport(s): Cycling
Goals: Cycle 400 miles from Edinburgh to London, in 3 days, raising money for mental health charity, Mind, and increase awareness of mental illness. Before I start each day I will be giving a keynote speech
Tell us about yourself/inspire us:
I am 35, married, with one daughter and a baby on the way. I have been a keen cyclist since 16. I work for a business communications company in Edinburgh and live in the beautiful Scottish Borders, some of the finest cycle country the UK has to offer.
In February 2011, following a severe decline in my mood and ability to cope with many everyday things, I was diagnosed with depression. After a fair amount of therapy, it was revealed that this is something I’d lived with for a long time – I just wasn’t able to ‘cope’ with it any more. My best method of coping has always been cycling and that’s why I’ve chosen to use it as a way to increase awareness of an invisible illness that effects 1 in 4 people in the UK. On June 19th 2012, I’ll leave Edinburgh on my bike and spend 3 days getting to London and trying to raise over £4000 for UK mental Health charity, Mind. I’ve done a few endurance challenges before, but this will be my Biggest Journey. Support Stuart here
What Sponser products do you use?
I’m extremely pleased to have the support of Sponser UK for my challenge. Nutrition choices can make or brake a big endurance challenge and Sponser will be helping me by providing the supplements I’ll need to keep me going and assisting with a nutrition plan for training and the main event.
With between 120 and 145 miles to cover each day, I’ll be burning around 20,000 calories over the 3 day ride. I plan to use a mixture of Long Energy, Energy Plus bars and Liquid Energy and Liquid Energy plus, along with a selection of easily digestible ‘real food’.
Caroline Stewart and Phil Marshall
Name:Caroline Stewart and Phil Marshall
Sport(s): Cycling
Goals: Complete (870 mile) Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG or End to End) in 8 days
Tell us about yourself/inspire us
I started cycling seriously when I was about 15; the year before, Robert Millar had won the King of the Mountains competition in the Tour and his jersey hung in the Glasgow bike shop of Billy Bilsland, an ex Pro-rider and Olympian who was a school friend of my dad. I regularly rode out into the hills north of Glasgow and I continued cycling when I joined the Navy, even riding competitively on a couple of occasions. My military career was cut short in ‘94 due to an achilles tendon injury, which stopped me riding too.
Other than a brief attempt to return to riding in 2002, I didn’t even sit on a bike until 2008 when I bought a cheap MTB/hybrid to ride in the woods where we live to try to lose weight. I got my real cycling fix watching the pro cycling on Eurosport and the constant exposure to competitive cycling also sparked Phil’s interest in road racing. Although Phil had spent most of his university career cycling (living at Girton College Cambridge, cycling is a necessity!) his real introduction to road cycling was following team HTC contest the green jersey in the 2009 Tour de France.
Having ridden the MTB and been disappointed with how slow it was (or maybe “I was”) on the road, it was only a matter of time until I got a road bike. So, as of May 2011, I became a road cyclist again. Phil soon bought his own bike to come out and keep me company, and displayed a real aptitude for going up hills quickly.
In discussion about training goals last year Phil suggested that perhaps we should do a small cycling tour… This eventually became the aim to ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats and our end 2 end project …um… hit the road
This will be a real challenge for us. fitting training in around jobs, family and running a historical fencing school isn’t easy.
Check out Caroline’s blog at: http://pandaonabike.blogspot.co.uk/
Are you next?
Sponser UK is actively looking for British athletes to support in all sports and at all levels. From the up and coming junior to the elite athlete, from winning the club championship to beating your personal best, Sponser is for everyone.
Have an inspiring story? In need of sponsorship and support? Be it a single charity event or a multi season quest for success, we may be able to help. Please drop us an e-mail or get in touch by contacting us.
Interested athletes can be of any age and from any sport, but they do need to demonstrate success in their chosen field and not currently have any other food or drink sponsors