Muscle Warrior 10K & 5K RUN is huge success
Attracting 124 runners, plus many family’s and their little’uns from across the county, the stunning venue of Haileybury in Hertford Heath again provided a fantastic location for the 2nd annual Muscle Warriors 10K & 5K RUN on Sun 24 July 2011 that raised nearly £7000 - the event included a 1K Superhero Fancy Dress Toddle and a fast and furious 1K Wheelchair Circuit in aid of Muscle Dreams, amazing experiences in the UK for children with Muscular Dystrophy.
Michael McGrath, himself a sufferer of Muscular Dystrophy and the charity’s co-founder and Chief Muscle Warrior (CEO) said, “It was brilliant to see so many people enjoying themselves at Haileybury. We tried very hard to not only give all runners a great experience but also the many families and children who entered into the spirit of the wider event, a really memorable day out.”
“Special congratulations to our 10K winner Wayne Bell (Race No. 102) in a terrific time of 34:46 and our 5K winner Toby Hone (Race No. 310) who finished in a time of 18:36 Respect to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) sufferer and fully-fledged Muscle Warrior Matt Berry who powered around the 1K Wheelchair Circuit through the magnificent quad at break-neck speed sporting the most spectacularly colourful sneakers but also to Matthew Peasey who won the 1K Superhero Fancy Dress Toddle (both pictured below) … so many people dressed up in colourful superhero costumes. It was a whole lot of fun!”
“We’ve received many wonderful comments, text messages and various emails from both runners and families. In addition to nearly £7000 being raised for the charity, our goal was to deliver a great event but also raise further awareness about Muscle Dreams – this could not have been achieved without the incredible support of so many Muscle Warrior volunteers! Thank you everyone for making it such a success – you know who you are. Onwards we go to 2012!” he added.
The charity’s newest partner, a unique family business called RUGGERBUGS, organised a special RUN FOR THEIR LIVES event in support of the charity which saw many of their club locations (including Bancroft, Bishops Stortford, Braintree, Cheshunt, Harlow, Hertford, Medway, Romford & Gidea Park and Tunbridge Wells) toddling the 1K distance during their class sessions (the equivalent we're informed of 21 times around a badminton court!) on the same day.
Representatives of the RUGGERBUGS team were on hand at Haileybury giving out colourful 'Sidney' stickers to the little-ones and the founder Andy Peasey delivered a friendly 'Sidney' warm-up for the many 1K superhero toddlers including mums and dads. “It was a fantastic day, well organised and we’re now really looking forward to participating in next years event,” said Andy.
Chief Muscle Warrior (aka Michael McGrath) commented “A very special thank you to Andy, Tara and all the RUGGERBUGS team members for their fantastic support on the day and to all those RUGGERBUG customers across the South-East region who contributed financially towards an extraordinary sponsorship total that currently stands at just over £1000.”
"I recently visited the club in Harlow and have witnessed just how much fun this innovative pre-school non-contact rugby development programme is – it was absolutely brilliant to see so many toddlers from as little as 18 months to 6 years old enjoying themselves! There’s a lot of energy in RUGGERBUGS and we’re really excited about the future opportunities that will undoubtedly emerge from this partnership. As for their amazing sponsorship efforts, I have it on good authority that 'Sidney' is incredibly proud!"
The event was also in support of the Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend celebrating almost one year to go on Wednesday 27 July to the London 2012 Olympic Games … exciting times ahead. Thanks to our friends in the Cultural Olympiad team at Herts County Council for providing their cool “Love to” goody bags! “Love to” is a countywide initiative aimed at encouraging more people in Hertfordshire to get involved in cultural activities on their doorstep.
The whole event was massively enjoyable and there was a great buzz around the place. On the basis we are not on holiday next year, we will definitely do it in 2012 |
Great fun, excellent organisation (please thank all the marshals – they did a great job), great atmosphere during the warm-up exercises plus a lovely course. Thoroughly enjoyed the day! |
Hertford based professional photographer Steve Beeston was the events official photographer. All photographs are credited to Steve Beeston Photography. If you would like to purchase any of the photographs taken on the day, please see the prices below.
CDs of 126 photos from the online gallery are £6.00 incl home delivery with £1 going to The Muscle Help Foundation (MHF). 7½ x 5" prints are available at 0.70p, with 0.20p going to MHF. 12 x 8" prints are £3.00 with 0.50p going to MHF. For home delivery, please add £1.00
How to Order – visit the online photo gallery here
The photo numbers appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the gallery. Either send a cheque with your order to: Steve Beeston Photography, 18 St.John's Court, Hertford, SG14 1RZ or email your order to steve@stevebeeston.co.uk and pay by either Paypal or Google Checkout. Please state your preference and an electronic invoice will be emailed to you. Turnaround time is 2 weeks.
A very special thank you to Haileybury School (www.haileybury.com) for hosting the race and to the following organisations and individuals for supporting this event:·
- Richard our Race Director and his support team
- Neil & team of Amwell View School
- Kimberley & Larry Mangelshot of eKuiLibriuM Wellbeing Studio
- Ben & Chris of Physio Gorilla making you King Kong strong
- Warwick & team of Reinvent Lifestyle –health, fitness, coaching & sports massage
- Kirsty, Steph & team of Nuffield Fitness in Hertford
- Hertfordshire is Ready For Winners Partnership (HRFWP)
- Saracens Rugby Club for use of their official mascot
- Steve of Steve Beeston Photography in Hertford
- Steve Eyetunes Mobile Disco in Braughing
- Nigel of Pearldrop Video Production
- Herts County Council
- Graeme Macpherson-Smith for wooden eco-medals
- Ware Joggers for high-vis bibs
- Fergus McMullen of McMullen & Sons for banners
- Nice 2 Tri for race numbers
- Herts Sports Partnership (HSP)
- And all our Muscle Warrior volunteers & helpers
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GET INVOLVED TODAY BY … Gifting for example vital resources ie. time, people, contacts, hotels, experiential or memorabilia items for our charity’s key auction events etc so we can concentrate on delivering more Muscle Dreams Become a Trustee, join our Management Team, become an MHF Friend or simply help us grow our network of MHF Ambassadors Nominate us as your Charity of the Year (COY) Raise funds by creating a Muscle Warrior team challenge event and by default, your company commits to helping us deliver one or more Muscle Dreams Recruit a Muscle Warrior team to take part in our annual GRIM-day outdoor 8 mile off-road adventure run! Implement a Muscle Warrior CSR programme that drives employee engagement and rewards performance For further information, email ceo@musclehelp.com or phone the charity on +44 (0) 1763 274658 |
About RUGGERBUGS www.ruggerbugs.co.uk
RUGGERBUGS is a unique family business and our programme has been developed for joint participation of the parent and child at sessions. RUGGERBUGS is designed to promote and instil a fun and positive attitude to sport and fitness by encouraging pre-school children to participate in regular exercise from a young age.
About Muscular Dystrophy (MD)
Muscular Dystrophy is the single biggest genetic killer of children in our world today. With some 75,000 UK sufferers being robbed of their mobility, independence and finally, for those with the most severe form known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), their lives. The charity delivers experiences for people directly affected by this debilitating disease.
About Muscle Dreams
Muscle Dreams are amazing experiences in the UK designed to help children and young people whose lives are afflicted by the muscle-wasting disease, muscular dystrophy (MD), the opportunity to live a dream, or perhaps fulfil a cherished ambition. Muscle Dreams can cost anywhere between £500 to for example £5000 – whilst the charity will do its utmost at all times, it is unable to fund every Muscle Dream nomination received.
About Muscle Warriors
Muscle Warriors are those generous-hearted people who use for example the power of sport to engage, inspire and raise vital funds – Muscle Warriors run across deserts, they sprint along race tracks, do triathlons and ironman’s as well as events called GRIM; they climb mountains and participate in endurance activities to enable Muscle Dreams to happen. They reinforce the robust link between muscles, movement and sport.
**Important Note for Journalists / Editors**
The charity works very hard to avoid language such as ‘grant wishes’ or ‘realise dreams’ or ‘fulfil special days’, which is very much in keeping with the approach of some other well-known charities. The Muscle Help Foundation delivers Muscle Dreams – we would be grateful if editors would ensure that this is communicated in this manner – thank you.
From the press office of The Muscle Help Foundation
Registered Charity No. 1096716
