I would love it if in some small way my
story can inspire you to follow your
dreams in life and who
the ripple effects of the decisions I’ve
made how they’ve guided my life path and
how your decisions can guide yours if
you follow what you’re passionate about
in life as you can see from the picture
on the left
I’ve loved running since as long as I
can remember but actually my involvement
in the support them from long before
that picture was taken after being born
and before going home for the first time
my mom and dad took me via a local
cross-country race to cheat on some of
my dad’s friends who were racing and so
from that you would guess that I was
destined for a career in athletics but I
never felt pressured and I was always
encouraged to enjoy running by my dad
male who is a former international
marathon runner my dad this is without a
doubt one of my biggest inspirations in
2006 he was diagnosed with myeloma bone
marrow cancer and I’ll never forget when
I visit him in hospital for one of the
first times as he was in the isolation
ward and as we walked up the corridor
and we saw many of the other patients
understandably very tired from the
treatment and hooked up to drips we got
to my dad’s room and we heard this
really funny noise and my mom and I said
what on earth is he up to and as we’ve
looked in the the window of the room we
saw that he’d had an exercise bike
installed into his room and he was
hammering away on this thing with sweat
dripping off him and I think back to
that a lot Juden tough times and work
and even Juden races if it becomes
painful and I think if my dad can deal
with cancer in that way I think I can
deal with the pain of a cross-country
race something my dad has always taught
me as well as how important it is to
help other people even if it’s something
small like holding a door open for them
you may never get that chance again and
it’s important to take that opportunity
when it arises in 2009 I was given the
opportunity to be a pacemaker for two
Kenyan athletes Gideon gamba on the
right and second from the right path
well Bergen now their goal that day for
the opening of Aberdeen sports village
was to try and run under four minutes
for the mile for the first time in
Aberdeen
when we had a meeting with the two
Kenyans before the race it became
quickly apparent that I wasn’t even
going to be able to keep up with them
until half we two-piece make for them
and so in the end I faced mate for the
British athletes on the left
side and these two guys with the help of
Ian giddy for the first lap went on and
around three minutes and 57 seconds for
the male and I think it was then that
started my fascination with Kenyan
athletics and also how it was possible
for humans to run quite that fast fast
forward two years to 2011 I was working
in a part-time job along with my friend
Dan Mel here who’s second from the right
in the picture and Dan said to me how
would you like to come to Kenya for
three months training and it took me all
of about sixty Seconds to say yes and
asked them to boot the flight so that I
couldn’t talk myself out of it and so
off we went to Kenya for the three
months arriving to our accommodation
which was two single mattresses on a
muddy floor in a house which had no
electricity that night and so we felt
homesick also went into panic mode when
I thought how am I going to charge my
phone for the next few months and how am
I gonna use my laptop thankfully it was
it was a powerup which is a regular
current so then he turned the time we’re
seeing as you can see basic surroundings
and lots of beans and past therefore it
shows the extent of our cooking skills
back then and not much has changed now
either and the toilet process also took
a lot of getting used to as well this
store here called a London Marathon
store any ten in Kenya and you would
guess it would sell running clothes
running kit entry forms for the London
Marathon when in actual fact all it
sells are things like bread and eggs and
sweeties but the point in this story is
that this shop is about five minutes
that we from the home of this lady
Mirikitani now this picture was taken 11
years ago after Amelia’s first release
which was the shoot for Africa ten key
in e10 and made he finished 21st that
day and she said to the organizer Tobit
answer afterwards that she would never
finish outside the podium places again
no true to her word
Mirikitani has never gone on to win the
London Madison twice the New York
Marathon three times and become the
second fastest female marathon runner
over the madison over the madison
distance none of this would have been
possible had it not been for Hart her
hard work and sacrifice as an athlete
and it’s amazing to see the difference
instances had in made his life her
family and also the community around her
and it really shows the power of sport
and how it can change lives I went back
to Kenya in 2012 I was able to train a
little bit more unfortunately I was
injured on the first trip the things
I’ve learned most from Kenyan athletes
are just the shear work ethic that
they’ve got I thought I’d trained hard
before going to Kenya and I was training
maybe five or six times a week but going
there realizing that these guys trained
two or three times a day just shows how
they can how they do become so
successful and the track that we’re
running on there is the main running
track in e10 so this is the track which
has produced multiple World and Olympic
champions and world record holders as
well and it just goes to show that you
don’t always need the best facilities in
order to become successful on that trip
I spent a lot of time with Gideon get
them both one of the Kenyan athletes who
had arias and Aberdeen back in 2000 a
nine and not only was it amazing – Trina
alongside a world-class athlete but it
was incredible to see a different set
there’s any friends and family of Gideon
and the community around him one of
these experiences which really touched
my heart and certainly on a life path I
never imagined possible was a visit to
the pavilion village Children’s Home in
Cavatina now at that point there was 22
children in the home a lot of them had
lost their parents due to HIV they were
all out of school due to a lack of fees
they were short on food the windows were
broken as you can see in the photo there
and we were really struck as we were
shown around the home the kids were so
happy and so proud of their surroundings
despite us being quite tough the bedroom
on the left and their kitchen on the
right when I got home to the UK I posted
this picture on my Facebook page and
said to my friends that I would like to
try and raise enough to get a mattress
for each of the children for that
Christmas so the target was – it says at
22 pounds each and we wanted to try and
raise 484 pounds and amazingly over the
next couple of days we raised almost
three times that
and we were able to get the match that’s
delivered in a typical Kenyan stay or
delivery and with the that’s nothing
compared to some of the season cupboards
as well but with the extra money we were
able to get some of the children back
into school and eating regular meals as
well and so Gideon and I spoke a lot
about what we wanted to do for children
in Kenya and how we felt like we could
do so much more and with us in mind we
set up the Gotham Bay Edwards foundation
now many athletes come to Kenya and tree
in any debt and make future their
success as athletes but every day they
run past children who are out of school
sleeping on mud floors and they do
nothing but it was clear to me from
those experiences with Gideon and
despite being a former world record
holder he had a huge passion for helping
disadvantaged children and he could
relate to their struggles as he had a
very tough upbringing himself as well
but also I would have sport and how had
neither of us followed our talents as
athletes I may never have gone to Kenya
we may never have met and the
fundraising may never have taken place
and so we set up the foundation which
now supports two hundred and forty-three
children across different parts of Kenya
and we’ve been able to build 17 houses
for 73 children now when I think back to
trying to raise money for 22 mattresses
it just really shows you what can be
achieved when you follow what you’re
passionate about it’s been amazing for
us to see for some of these children now
young adults like Peter and Elliot who
are studying at university in college in
Nairobi and Caroline who’s graduated as
as a teacher have gone on to achieve
they would have been achieving these
things anyway had it not been for just a
relatively small amount of money and so
it’s so inspiring for us and our younger
children to see them realizing their
dreams now these are four lessons which
I’ve learned from families that we work
with in Kenya firstly appreciating what
you have secondly staying positive
thirdly complaining less and smiling
more and finally never giving up because
situations can change the first lesson
this house on the left is where the
older children at the pavillion village
were sleeping when we first visited and
as you can see from the picture on the
right but holes in the roofs and in the
roof and holes in the walls so when it
rains and they’re sleeping the rain was
coming through our volunteers were able
to build the 16 bed dormitory for the
children with a living room and study
area one of the most amazing things I’ve
seen due to my time in Kenya was when we
installed the washing machine the
children sat in front of it for 30
minutes as if it was a television now
I’m not sayin to you I’m not sayin to
you to go home and sit at your washing
machine for 30 minutes but it does make
you realize how important it is to
appreciate what you have and take things
for granted just that little bit less
secondly this family the girl at
top-left Sakura calls Eddie now she
lived in a single room mud house with
her 8 brothers and sisters sleeping on a
mud floor anything their dinner with no
furniture our volunteers were able to
build the house for them on the right
and as part of a fundraiser I went and
spent a night on the mud floor with my
colleague David at first I tried to
sleep on my left side it became too sore
moved over to the right it became too
sore and so I spent 8 hours staring at
the ceiling unable to sleep and in a
room filled with smoke because of the
charcoal they use for cooking and it was
tough but it was one night and these
children were sleeping like that every
night of their lives and it really made
it me realize how tough it was to be a
child in Kenya and it made us even more
determined to try and change that the
lesson I’ve learned from them is these
pictures you would guess were maybe
taken after the house was built but each
and every one of these pictures was
taken before their house was built and
it shows how important it is to stay
positive despite the struggles that
you’re facing this man Daniel sadly lost
his wife and now looks after their three
children the story five children
single-handedly and despite his
struggles he never complains and is
always smiling as you can see from the
picture on the left he has a broken left
arm six years ago he fell off a tree and
broke both his arms and was only able to
afford the operation to fix one of them
and so for the past six years he’s lived
with a broken arm working full-time to
support his family and
never complaints and so I’m delighted to
see that Daniel will be getting a second
armed operated and born in a couple of
weeks time and it will be incredible to
see what he can achieve the final lesson
sure in that situations can’t change the
two boys at the top left are Oscar and
Stanley who were living in this house
with their mom Mary and their brother
Paul and they were so short on food that
they were eating the soil of their house
to get iron into their diet an amazing
friend of mine Alan Brown after visiting
the family denieth of the two thousand
pounds which we needed to build them a
new house and so as you can see from the
bottom left picture they’re living
happily in their new home and it was
named Archie’s house after Alan’s family
dog who sadly passed away at the time of
the building Jude in their struggles and
merely their mom their her neighbor
often mocked them for the the struggles
that they were in and did nothing to
support them and so it was amazing for
us to see over 150 people turn up to the
official house opening ceremony and I’ve
never seen middie smile like that before
and so the lesson here is that
situations can change but also it’s
great to see that it’s merely laughing
now and not her neighbor all of these
experiences have milp and motivated me a
huge amount and but I’ve also been
motivated by a number of people too
none more so than my friend Neil Jaffrey
who was sadly killed in a road accident
in 2014 Neil was a huge supporter of me
as an athlete and of the foundation as
well and I often when I wake up each
morning I think what would Neil want me
to do now you know would he want me to
sleep in no if I’m out when I run would
he want me to slow down no he would want
me to go for it and so that’s a big
motivator to me and work and in sport
and also making sure that his three
little girls are okay and achieve their
dreams in life is a big motivator too
and it was amazing this morning to see
Jessica and the middle they’re so
excited on her fifth birthday party all
these experiences have also inspired me
on the track too and going into the
Scottish Championships in 2015 I was by
no means the favorite I hadn’t had a
great season the night before the race
my dad said to me when you get into that
home street tell yourself that no
he has more guts and determination than
you now it doesn’t matter that if that’s
true but the most important thing is
what you believe and those words were
ringing in my ears as I came into the
home Street and I worked harder than
ever to get to the finish line first
crossing the line a Scottish champion
was one of the best moments of my life
and something that I’ll never forget and
it simply wouldn’t have been possible
had I not followed my dreams and going
to Kenya in the first place
unfortunately this has been my life
since so for the last 18 months I’ve had
a series of injuries and underwent knee
surgery in June of last year and it has
been frustrating but bad things happen
to everyone and the most important thing
is how do you deal with them it can be
frustrating seeing people that you’ve
raced against achieving things that you
feel like you could achieve as well but
it’s so important to stay positive and
use that as a motivation to get back and
achieve what you believe you can being
our injured taught me how precious time
is you know time can be a funny thing
and in cecht training sessions before
the injury I would often be wishing time
away if I had 15 minutes left to go on a
run I’d be dreading it and wishing I
only had five now when I’m on the gym
bike and I hate the gym bike when I’m on
the gym bike and I see two minutes to go
I want more I want five minutes and you
know it just shows you that negative
things can be turned into positives too
I think this is a really important
question to ask yourself on a regular
basis what does your why so basically
what is your biggest motivator what gets
you out of bed every morning for me it’s
about working hard to meet the people
who have supported me proud and doing
what I can to support them and that can
be transferred into anything that you do
in life Sport was my vehicle but
whatever your interests if you follow
what you’re passionate about it can
become a career I want to finish off by
telling you the story of a little girl
called faith bungee COO who I first met
with our volunteers in October 2015
as we visited her school there were
about 500 children all lined up shaking
our hands and high-fiving us and our
face went past I realized that she
didn’t have any hands and so when the
volunteers went back to the house
building sites I went into the classroom
to see how faith was functioning in a
mainstream school and despite having no
hands and also no feet which you would
never have known
she sprinted about the classroom which
is position 5 of 52 in our class and had
incredibly neat handwriting
after visiting the school we went to see
Fitz house and as you can see her mom
and faith shared this bedroom which also
had a wheelbarrow in the room and gaps
in the walls thanks the people that have
supported us we were able to build faith
a new house and dude in the building
project faith and her mom each night
despite the builders telling them
otherwise we’d walk up and down the
slippery muddy path filling out water
cans faith with her little yellow yellow
jelly can and her mom with 18 litres of
water on her back and faith mom also has
no hands and feet due to a genetic
condition but they wanted to do that to
fill up the water tank which the
builders required to be filled just as a
token of their appreciation to thank the
builders for what they were doing for
them it’s amazing to see what faith and
her mom achieve faith draws the most
lovely pictures her mom chops wood opens
padlocks cooks meals carries water and
throughout all of this they never stop
smiling
and so what faith and her mom have
taught me is that if anyone ever tells
you in life that you’re not capable of
doing something whether it’s because of
age gender ability or even injury think
of faith and prove them wrong this is a
quote from Nelson Mandela which has
inspired me a lot over the years but
there’s one thing I’d like you to take
from today it’s this make a difference
wherever however and whenever you can
because you may never get that chance
again and you never know what it can
take someone else or yourself run
towards your dreams and remember if your
work inspires others then it’s got no
finish line thank you
you
you
story can inspire you to follow your
dreams in life and who
the ripple effects of the decisions I’ve
made how they’ve guided my life path and
how your decisions can guide yours if
you follow what you’re passionate about
in life as you can see from the picture
on the left
I’ve loved running since as long as I
can remember but actually my involvement
in the support them from long before
that picture was taken after being born
and before going home for the first time
my mom and dad took me via a local
cross-country race to cheat on some of
my dad’s friends who were racing and so
from that you would guess that I was
destined for a career in athletics but I
never felt pressured and I was always
encouraged to enjoy running by my dad
male who is a former international
marathon runner my dad this is without a
doubt one of my biggest inspirations in
2006 he was diagnosed with myeloma bone
marrow cancer and I’ll never forget when
I visit him in hospital for one of the
first times as he was in the isolation
ward and as we walked up the corridor
and we saw many of the other patients
understandably very tired from the
treatment and hooked up to drips we got
to my dad’s room and we heard this
really funny noise and my mom and I said
what on earth is he up to and as we’ve
looked in the the window of the room we
saw that he’d had an exercise bike
installed into his room and he was
hammering away on this thing with sweat
dripping off him and I think back to
that a lot Juden tough times and work
and even Juden races if it becomes
painful and I think if my dad can deal
with cancer in that way I think I can
deal with the pain of a cross-country
race something my dad has always taught
me as well as how important it is to
help other people even if it’s something
small like holding a door open for them
you may never get that chance again and
it’s important to take that opportunity
when it arises in 2009 I was given the
opportunity to be a pacemaker for two
Kenyan athletes Gideon gamba on the
right and second from the right path
well Bergen now their goal that day for
the opening of Aberdeen sports village
was to try and run under four minutes
for the mile for the first time in
Aberdeen
when we had a meeting with the two
Kenyans before the race it became
quickly apparent that I wasn’t even
going to be able to keep up with them
until half we two-piece make for them
and so in the end I faced mate for the
British athletes on the left
side and these two guys with the help of
Ian giddy for the first lap went on and
around three minutes and 57 seconds for
the male and I think it was then that
started my fascination with Kenyan
athletics and also how it was possible
for humans to run quite that fast fast
forward two years to 2011 I was working
in a part-time job along with my friend
Dan Mel here who’s second from the right
in the picture and Dan said to me how
would you like to come to Kenya for
three months training and it took me all
of about sixty Seconds to say yes and
asked them to boot the flight so that I
couldn’t talk myself out of it and so
off we went to Kenya for the three
months arriving to our accommodation
which was two single mattresses on a
muddy floor in a house which had no
electricity that night and so we felt
homesick also went into panic mode when
I thought how am I going to charge my
phone for the next few months and how am
I gonna use my laptop thankfully it was
it was a powerup which is a regular
current so then he turned the time we’re
seeing as you can see basic surroundings
and lots of beans and past therefore it
shows the extent of our cooking skills
back then and not much has changed now
either and the toilet process also took
a lot of getting used to as well this
store here called a London Marathon
store any ten in Kenya and you would
guess it would sell running clothes
running kit entry forms for the London
Marathon when in actual fact all it
sells are things like bread and eggs and
sweeties but the point in this story is
that this shop is about five minutes
that we from the home of this lady
Mirikitani now this picture was taken 11
years ago after Amelia’s first release
which was the shoot for Africa ten key
in e10 and made he finished 21st that
day and she said to the organizer Tobit
answer afterwards that she would never
finish outside the podium places again
no true to her word
Mirikitani has never gone on to win the
London Madison twice the New York
Marathon three times and become the
second fastest female marathon runner
over the madison over the madison
distance none of this would have been
possible had it not been for Hart her
hard work and sacrifice as an athlete
and it’s amazing to see the difference
instances had in made his life her
family and also the community around her
and it really shows the power of sport
and how it can change lives I went back
to Kenya in 2012 I was able to train a
little bit more unfortunately I was
injured on the first trip the things
I’ve learned most from Kenyan athletes
are just the shear work ethic that
they’ve got I thought I’d trained hard
before going to Kenya and I was training
maybe five or six times a week but going
there realizing that these guys trained
two or three times a day just shows how
they can how they do become so
successful and the track that we’re
running on there is the main running
track in e10 so this is the track which
has produced multiple World and Olympic
champions and world record holders as
well and it just goes to show that you
don’t always need the best facilities in
order to become successful on that trip
I spent a lot of time with Gideon get
them both one of the Kenyan athletes who
had arias and Aberdeen back in 2000 a
nine and not only was it amazing – Trina
alongside a world-class athlete but it
was incredible to see a different set
there’s any friends and family of Gideon
and the community around him one of
these experiences which really touched
my heart and certainly on a life path I
never imagined possible was a visit to
the pavilion village Children’s Home in
Cavatina now at that point there was 22
children in the home a lot of them had
lost their parents due to HIV they were
all out of school due to a lack of fees
they were short on food the windows were
broken as you can see in the photo there
and we were really struck as we were
shown around the home the kids were so
happy and so proud of their surroundings
despite us being quite tough the bedroom
on the left and their kitchen on the
right when I got home to the UK I posted
this picture on my Facebook page and
said to my friends that I would like to
try and raise enough to get a mattress
for each of the children for that
Christmas so the target was – it says at
22 pounds each and we wanted to try and
raise 484 pounds and amazingly over the
next couple of days we raised almost
three times that
and we were able to get the match that’s
delivered in a typical Kenyan stay or
delivery and with the that’s nothing
compared to some of the season cupboards
as well but with the extra money we were
able to get some of the children back
into school and eating regular meals as
well and so Gideon and I spoke a lot
about what we wanted to do for children
in Kenya and how we felt like we could
do so much more and with us in mind we
set up the Gotham Bay Edwards foundation
now many athletes come to Kenya and tree
in any debt and make future their
success as athletes but every day they
run past children who are out of school
sleeping on mud floors and they do
nothing but it was clear to me from
those experiences with Gideon and
despite being a former world record
holder he had a huge passion for helping
disadvantaged children and he could
relate to their struggles as he had a
very tough upbringing himself as well
but also I would have sport and how had
neither of us followed our talents as
athletes I may never have gone to Kenya
we may never have met and the
fundraising may never have taken place
and so we set up the foundation which
now supports two hundred and forty-three
children across different parts of Kenya
and we’ve been able to build 17 houses
for 73 children now when I think back to
trying to raise money for 22 mattresses
it just really shows you what can be
achieved when you follow what you’re
passionate about it’s been amazing for
us to see for some of these children now
young adults like Peter and Elliot who
are studying at university in college in
Nairobi and Caroline who’s graduated as
as a teacher have gone on to achieve
they would have been achieving these
things anyway had it not been for just a
relatively small amount of money and so
it’s so inspiring for us and our younger
children to see them realizing their
dreams now these are four lessons which
I’ve learned from families that we work
with in Kenya firstly appreciating what
you have secondly staying positive
thirdly complaining less and smiling
more and finally never giving up because
situations can change the first lesson
this house on the left is where the
older children at the pavillion village
were sleeping when we first visited and
as you can see from the picture on the
right but holes in the roofs and in the
roof and holes in the walls so when it
rains and they’re sleeping the rain was
coming through our volunteers were able
to build the 16 bed dormitory for the
children with a living room and study
area one of the most amazing things I’ve
seen due to my time in Kenya was when we
installed the washing machine the
children sat in front of it for 30
minutes as if it was a television now
I’m not sayin to you I’m not sayin to
you to go home and sit at your washing
machine for 30 minutes but it does make
you realize how important it is to
appreciate what you have and take things
for granted just that little bit less
secondly this family the girl at
top-left Sakura calls Eddie now she
lived in a single room mud house with
her 8 brothers and sisters sleeping on a
mud floor anything their dinner with no
furniture our volunteers were able to
build the house for them on the right
and as part of a fundraiser I went and
spent a night on the mud floor with my
colleague David at first I tried to
sleep on my left side it became too sore
moved over to the right it became too
sore and so I spent 8 hours staring at
the ceiling unable to sleep and in a
room filled with smoke because of the
charcoal they use for cooking and it was
tough but it was one night and these
children were sleeping like that every
night of their lives and it really made
it me realize how tough it was to be a
child in Kenya and it made us even more
determined to try and change that the
lesson I’ve learned from them is these
pictures you would guess were maybe
taken after the house was built but each
and every one of these pictures was
taken before their house was built and
it shows how important it is to stay
positive despite the struggles that
you’re facing this man Daniel sadly lost
his wife and now looks after their three
children the story five children
single-handedly and despite his
struggles he never complains and is
always smiling as you can see from the
picture on the left he has a broken left
arm six years ago he fell off a tree and
broke both his arms and was only able to
afford the operation to fix one of them
and so for the past six years he’s lived
with a broken arm working full-time to
support his family and
never complaints and so I’m delighted to
see that Daniel will be getting a second
armed operated and born in a couple of
weeks time and it will be incredible to
see what he can achieve the final lesson
sure in that situations can’t change the
two boys at the top left are Oscar and
Stanley who were living in this house
with their mom Mary and their brother
Paul and they were so short on food that
they were eating the soil of their house
to get iron into their diet an amazing
friend of mine Alan Brown after visiting
the family denieth of the two thousand
pounds which we needed to build them a
new house and so as you can see from the
bottom left picture they’re living
happily in their new home and it was
named Archie’s house after Alan’s family
dog who sadly passed away at the time of
the building Jude in their struggles and
merely their mom their her neighbor
often mocked them for the the struggles
that they were in and did nothing to
support them and so it was amazing for
us to see over 150 people turn up to the
official house opening ceremony and I’ve
never seen middie smile like that before
and so the lesson here is that
situations can change but also it’s
great to see that it’s merely laughing
now and not her neighbor all of these
experiences have milp and motivated me a
huge amount and but I’ve also been
motivated by a number of people too
none more so than my friend Neil Jaffrey
who was sadly killed in a road accident
in 2014 Neil was a huge supporter of me
as an athlete and of the foundation as
well and I often when I wake up each
morning I think what would Neil want me
to do now you know would he want me to
sleep in no if I’m out when I run would
he want me to slow down no he would want
me to go for it and so that’s a big
motivator to me and work and in sport
and also making sure that his three
little girls are okay and achieve their
dreams in life is a big motivator too
and it was amazing this morning to see
Jessica and the middle they’re so
excited on her fifth birthday party all
these experiences have also inspired me
on the track too and going into the
Scottish Championships in 2015 I was by
no means the favorite I hadn’t had a
great season the night before the race
my dad said to me when you get into that
home street tell yourself that no
he has more guts and determination than
you now it doesn’t matter that if that’s
true but the most important thing is
what you believe and those words were
ringing in my ears as I came into the
home Street and I worked harder than
ever to get to the finish line first
crossing the line a Scottish champion
was one of the best moments of my life
and something that I’ll never forget and
it simply wouldn’t have been possible
had I not followed my dreams and going
to Kenya in the first place
unfortunately this has been my life
since so for the last 18 months I’ve had
a series of injuries and underwent knee
surgery in June of last year and it has
been frustrating but bad things happen
to everyone and the most important thing
is how do you deal with them it can be
frustrating seeing people that you’ve
raced against achieving things that you
feel like you could achieve as well but
it’s so important to stay positive and
use that as a motivation to get back and
achieve what you believe you can being
our injured taught me how precious time
is you know time can be a funny thing
and in cecht training sessions before
the injury I would often be wishing time
away if I had 15 minutes left to go on a
run I’d be dreading it and wishing I
only had five now when I’m on the gym
bike and I hate the gym bike when I’m on
the gym bike and I see two minutes to go
I want more I want five minutes and you
know it just shows you that negative
things can be turned into positives too
I think this is a really important
question to ask yourself on a regular
basis what does your why so basically
what is your biggest motivator what gets
you out of bed every morning for me it’s
about working hard to meet the people
who have supported me proud and doing
what I can to support them and that can
be transferred into anything that you do
in life Sport was my vehicle but
whatever your interests if you follow
what you’re passionate about it can
become a career I want to finish off by
telling you the story of a little girl
called faith bungee COO who I first met
with our volunteers in October 2015
as we visited her school there were
about 500 children all lined up shaking
our hands and high-fiving us and our
face went past I realized that she
didn’t have any hands and so when the
volunteers went back to the house
building sites I went into the classroom
to see how faith was functioning in a
mainstream school and despite having no
hands and also no feet which you would
never have known
she sprinted about the classroom which
is position 5 of 52 in our class and had
incredibly neat handwriting
after visiting the school we went to see
Fitz house and as you can see her mom
and faith shared this bedroom which also
had a wheelbarrow in the room and gaps
in the walls thanks the people that have
supported us we were able to build faith
a new house and dude in the building
project faith and her mom each night
despite the builders telling them
otherwise we’d walk up and down the
slippery muddy path filling out water
cans faith with her little yellow yellow
jelly can and her mom with 18 litres of
water on her back and faith mom also has
no hands and feet due to a genetic
condition but they wanted to do that to
fill up the water tank which the
builders required to be filled just as a
token of their appreciation to thank the
builders for what they were doing for
them it’s amazing to see what faith and
her mom achieve faith draws the most
lovely pictures her mom chops wood opens
padlocks cooks meals carries water and
throughout all of this they never stop
smiling
and so what faith and her mom have
taught me is that if anyone ever tells
you in life that you’re not capable of
doing something whether it’s because of
age gender ability or even injury think
of faith and prove them wrong this is a
quote from Nelson Mandela which has
inspired me a lot over the years but
there’s one thing I’d like you to take
from today it’s this make a difference
wherever however and whenever you can
because you may never get that chance
again and you never know what it can
take someone else or yourself run
towards your dreams and remember if your
work inspires others then it’s got no
finish line thank you
you
you
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