Adam Green was part of a team that took on the London Marathon to raise funds for charity.
Fundraiser Adam Green tells JLife about taking part in a firewalk and the London Marathon to help raise money for mental health charity, Mind.
As part of a team of five, Adam was committed to raising £2,000 to run the marathon with the group requiring £10,000 overall to take part. To secure the funds for his first ever marathon, he came up with the idea of organising a separate event to raise the sponsorship, eventually deciding on a firewalk, which he describes as being appropriate as a tough “mind over matter challenge.”
On why he decided to run for Mind, Adam says: “It’s really relevant as so many people suffer from mental health issues. I think one in four people are being affected, and more people, especially young men, are coming out to say they are suffering.”
Having previously completed the Three Peaks Challenge for another charity, running enthusiast Adam wanted to find a new way of sourcing donations and found help and support from his gym, Total Fitness Whitefield, which agreed to host the event in its car park and help finance it, as well as recruiting some of its members to take part and fundraise too.
“Participants came from all over the place, it was incredible and a superb community event. Most people go out of their way to avoid pain, but some people really took the challenge to heart. There are risks, but if you do your research it’s achievable and there are techniques to enable you to do it safely. We didn’t chop down any trees or light any barbeques – we got a professional to help,” comments Adam. Around 60 people took part on the day, raising £11,500 – substantially more than the target.
Including earlier and further fundraising ahead of the marathon, Adam and the team, nicknamed the Whitefield Wanderers – which included Victoria Martin, David Gaffin and Michael Bowers plus David Perry who had to withdraw shortly before the race due to injury – raised £21,500 overall. From that money, £15,000 went to the central Mind charity, while the local Salford branch of the organisation received £6,500.
At the marathon itself the team was joined by Michael Seitler, who was running for Camp Simcha and raised £3,113 on a day that Adam says was one of the hottest days on record.
“The crowds came out and the atmosphere was incredible – it was amazing to hear people screaming the names on the back of our t-shirts in support. It was such a physical challenge but I didn’t quite achieve the time I wanted due to the heat, which was a shock to the system after training in the cold – we had to take it a little slower and stop for mini showers. But I’d definitely do it again. I want to say congratulations to the whole community, as everyone pitched in.”
For more information on Mind, visit Mind.org.uk.