Susan Campbell – 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 incredible demonstration of endurance, resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity…

As part of the Black Belt grading process, all candidates complete a charity challenge.

My chosen charity was Place2be, a children’s mental health charity that provides support, advice, and education in schools across Scotland. Mental health is a cause close to my heart and I believe resources should be readily available for all, especially young people. Research shows there is a connection between having good physical health and positive mental wellbeing, For that reason, I chose a duathlon challenge to raise funds.

I’m a keen short-distance runner (10km events being my sweet spot!) and endurance running is very much outside my comfort zone. I decided on a 6hr lapped duathlon (2hrs of run laps, 2hrs cycling laps, and finishing with another 2hrs of run laps) as I felt it would be a good test on my mental resilience as well as physical ability.

I had two attempts at the challenge, the first attempt was abandoned after 3 hours due to a very snowy day where it just became too unsafe to continue. The second attempt was a success and I completed a total of around 35 miles/56km (20.9 miles/33.6km of running and 14.19 miles/22.8km cycling) on the day.

I was joined by various members of the club during the day, which helped keep my spirits up. In the last hour, I chose to run by myself, this was the point I realised how resilient and strong I can be and this has been a motivation for the Black Belt grading to come.

I raised a total of £518 for Place2be, which will help provide support to many children and young people throughout Scotland.