Jamie Irvine – Black Belt Charity Fundraiser

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 Jamie and Chris…

As part of 2nd dan black belt preperation, I chose to join forces with Chris Young and tackle the Movember challenge. The requirements, agreed with by Sensei Craig, were 60KM for the month of November plus a ton up per day.

Having no obvious connection to a particular charity, I researched events related to physical challenges to narrow the field. I knew I wanted to do something that could raise money for a good cause but also give me a boost in terms of fitness.
Chris and I had both been looking and identified the Movember charity as an ideal fit. Again, no real connection with the charity but we appreciate the idea and the support they give to men in the UK. The distance was negotiated and ton up added after discussion with Sensei Craig.

Together, Chris and I racked up 198Km as Team Mo-Bros. I decided before we started that I wanted to do my 60km as runs only, excluding walks. The kilometers also turned into miles as I targeted 60miles and eventual hit over 100km. Chris and I met up multiple times during the month to run together.

I was also joined by my children on their bikes to keep the runs interesting. This was my first running charity challenge ever and asking people to donate definitely gave me a sense of responsibility. Dedicating time to run 2+ miles a day was no joke. It took up a lot of time and made me restructure certain aspects of my day. I also couldn’t have done it without the support of my w9fe Sheena, who encouraged and pushed me to get out there. I did 90% of my runs in the morning, as I did not want the running to interfere with my evening Kickboxing.

I was surprised by how dedicated I was to getting the miles in. I found the rigor of it quite comforting and the no nonsense approach suited me well. Every morning I had to run. No excuses. Having my children join in at various points also played a roll in the running not becoming too much of a chore. Infact, the days where they or someone else joined me were definitely the best days. Something about having company and chatting as you run made the time go quicker. I was lucky enough to be able to take part in Susans charity event also. Doing almost 10k as she started her own challenge felt great and keeping up with her hit home how far my running had come.

In conclusion, the charity challenge was a sucess on many levels. It married well with a recent decision for me to track calories and had an impact on my overall fitness. Together, Team MoBros raised £670 for Movember, a fantastic achievement. It was great getting out and hitting the concrete with Chris, Vickie (once) and family. It has led me to recognise that an organised physical challenge is quite appealing to me. I took december off but have since joined a running challange in January as I aim to hit peak fitness for my 2nd Dan grading in March (If invited).