www.themillers.co.uk caught up with Head Physiotherapist Mark Hoy to get an update on the challenge of running 10km every day across November in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, as the epic running effort has now passed the half way stage…
You’re over halfway through the running challenge now, how is it going so far?
The challenge is going really well so far thanks. As Ross Burbeary will have mentioned before, we have all set ourselves a maximum time in which we must complete each run. We tried to base these from our recent best times, so I am aiming for sub 42 minutes, whilst Ross is targeting sub 45 minutes, Adam Pulford wants to aim for sub 50 minutes and Matt Lowndes is looking at under an hour.
Other staff have agreed to take on different challenges, for example Gams (Paul Gambles) has been doing 10km on a bike every day. So far we have all achieved our targets, with a few funny stories along the way, but the important thing is we are all on course for completing the challenge. The Gaffer and coaches have been really good with us by getting involved when they are able to as well.
We even have participants from elsewhere in the country. Our former Head Physiotherapist Stephen Gilpin has been pushing the challenge over at Hull City, we also have Adam Hearn and Andy Young from Coventry City FC pushing each other every day; and last but not least, Paul Parker from West Ham Ladies has been great for promoting the challenge.
As a trained physiotherapist, have you had to treat any injuries along the way, or what sort of injuries are people likely to sustain taking on a challenge like this?
Everyone has remained healthy so far, thankfully! No issues beyond the occasional blister really. This will be partly due to the training everyone has put in to prepare for the month, and because we are lucky to work in an environment where there are plenty of tools to help us recover between runs.
Typical injuries you might expect to see during a challenge like this would be common overuse injuries such as Achilles or Patellar tendon issues. More serious though is the risk of stress reaction or stress fracture. With daylight being much less, and as a result we see less sunshine, it is common for people to be low in Vitamin D; which is vital for bone health. We manage this with a good diet and some Vitamin D supplements to ensure we are giving our bodies all it needs.
Tell us a little bit about your running background, supporters might not know that you’re a bit better than just the odd-10k!
Well, in a previous walk of life, I was a full-time middle distance runner! I ‘retired’ for want of a better word when I moved over to England to pursue a career in professional sport; and because I was getting to the point where I was tired of waking up in pain each morning.
My training varied a lot depending on the time of year, from 70-80 miles per week in the winter, where I built up my strength and endurance; to 25-30 miles per week in the summer, where the majority of my sessions were sprint based to sharpen my speed for 800m racing. It was always made easier in the winter by getting off to warm weather training camps to places like South Africa. Unfortunately, we have to deal with the rain and wind in Rotherham for our challenge…
The fundraising continues of course, but how can people donate?
The fundraising is going well. People have been really generous and supportive! The players have pledged to donate at the end of the month, which will be fantastic; and some have already helped out. We are really appreciative to any donation from any source. The just giving page is posted daily on all our twitter accounts.
The link is https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/run10kadayforprostate?utm_id=23.