Every Black Belt candidate is asked to organise, execute and write a summary of a charity event they organise as part of their grading journey.
Here’s one side of an incredible month long “bromance” fundraiser between Chris and Jamie…
I’d like to talk about a charity event that I participated in as part of my Black Belt preparation. I decided to run and raise funds for Movember, the men’s mental health charity. I asked my fellow student and good friend, Jamie Irvine, who is going for his second Dan Black Belt, to also participate and make this a team event.
Our target was to run 120 km (60 km each) in the month of November, with the runs logged on Strava and downloaded to the Movember app, while asking friends and colleagues for small donations towards the Movember charity. We both started off well, smashing 10 km in the first few days. Jamie also did a lot of runs by himself—small runs in the mornings of 3–5 km soon add up, with longer runs on weekends when not working.
My longest run before this event was 5 km. With that in mind, I set a personal target of 10 km, and I achieved that around Preston Island in Culross, running 10.36 km in 1 hour and 8 minutes. The following week, I ran even further—12.97 km in 1 hour and 22 minutes. This is one of my biggest achievements to date.
I smashed my target of 60 km around the 20th of the month, so I set another personal target of 90 km—an extra 30 km—and I achieved that goal on the 30th of November. Taking part in this charity event gives me a great sense of pride. Not only have I raised money for a great cause, but I’ve also gotten myself into the mindset that I can achieve something, all while getting fitter in the process. Running is something that I will definitely continue.
This charity event raises millions of pounds each year for men’s mental health and prostate/testicular cancer. My personal total raised was a massive sum of £390, with a team total of £670.
Written by Chris Young.
