5km a day challenger is raring to go

Long-standing Hospice supporter Stephen Wright is running 5km a day to help raise funds after hearing about the loss in donations following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Since starting work at Motorpoint, the UK’s largest independent car retailer, Stephen has been involved in supporting the Hospice for many years. Through the company, he organised a Winter Wonderland between Christmas and New Year in 2017, 2018 and 2019, as well as hosting a Drive-In Cinema last year, and teaming up with Haribo to give away a car for our 30^th birthday.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have visited the Hospice on several occasions during this time and have been truly humbled by the dedication of the staff in what can be extremely challenging circumstances as well as the positivity that you feel as soon as you walk through the door.

“It's the reason why I've always held the Hospice, and the work it does throughout the community, in such high esteem, and what inspired me to take on this particular challenge during lockdown.”

A few years ago, Stephen was involved in a BBC TV series with Steph McGovern and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, where he had to weigh himself of a regular basis, something which he hadn’t done in a very long time.

Following which, Stephen was shocked to find out how much weight he had gained, and this was what prompted him to start losing some weight.

Over a period of around a year, he managed to shed more than four stone, which in turn motivated him to start exercising more.

“Someone suggested running as a solution and before I knew it I was running mile after mile each week and loving it.

“While I was running I was thinking there must be a way of combining the run with raising money and after a catch up call with Jill and the fundraising team (at the Hospice) in the New Year to discuss how we, as a business, could help plug the Hospice's fundraising shortfall due to COVID-19, I suggested the idea of the 5km a day. And the rest as they say is history.

“I went for 5k because it’s enough of a challenge, but not that far that your legs can’t recover in time for the next day. I also use liberal amounts of Ibuprofen gel and hot water bottles on my knees at night if they are sore.

“I set myself a target of £500 which Motorpoint will match fund, but I have already exceeded that, so I am aiming for £1,000 with additional match funding. I’ve got everything crossed that I can achieve that.”

Despite his outstanding fundraising efforts, Stephen hasn’t done a challenge so physically demanding before and with the weather changing daily from snow to ice to wind and sun, it definitely has been a gruelling experience, but one he has thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless.

Although Stephen is the one running the 5km a day, he has had non-stop encouragement and support from his wonderful family.

“I trained most of January so that I was ready for the 5km day challenge this month. I ran a lot of different distances to build up my stamina.

“My son, who like me is working from home, has been great at showing me how to stretch properly before a run. I was completely ignorant until that point. My daughter helped me build a running playlist as well to motivate me. It's a bit of an eclectic mix with everything from Fat Boy Slim to Stevie Wonder but it seems to be working. 
 
“My wife treated me to some AirPods so I don't need to worry about wires when running. As you can see the challenges been a real family affair. I definitely couldn't do it without them. Even Ted, our dog, gives us a bark of encouragement when I run past the house!”
 
Stephen has found that helping the Hospice has been a real motivator for him and has given him lots of strength every morning he goes out for his run.
 
“I just wanted to thank everyone who has donated so far. It's very humbling and means the absolute world to me, especially with so many people having such a tough time financially due to COVID. I don't cry very often but I actually shed a tear when my wife told me I'd hit the £500 mark.

“I'm also planning a Drive-In Cinema again at Motorpoint Castleford for later in the year and I'm hoping that we'll be able to put on another free Winter Wonderland, with help from the Castleford Tigers, to raise even more money in support of The Prince of Wales Hospice.”
 
We can’t wait to catch up with Stephen to see how he got on at the end of this month!