Wednesday 3 April 2013

Eugene's Final Countdown For Paris

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Eugene Howson, Distribution Manager at London Travel News (LTN) will be running in the Paris Marathon (26.2 miles) this Sunday (7th April).

But that’s not all. As reported previously he's been preparing for the big event by running a couple of half marathons! In addition he ran from Slough to Reading on a home run and challenged colleagues to guess how long it would take. Eugene explains:

"I've been following a strict 12 week training plan which included daily jogging and also a few competitive half marathons.

  • Bath on March 3rd- I was pleased with the time- my chip time was 1:35:36, it was a good run and it’s beneficial to be competitive to improve fitness levels.

  • Reading on March 17th- It was cold and wet, not ideal running conditions, but I improved the time – my chip time was 1:34:06


My fund raising pledge is £1000 and it would be great to achieve this target and make an incredible difference to Stroke care. I've have received tremendous support from family, friends and work colleagues in order to reach my pledge."

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"To help reach my target, I've also held the following events:

  • Digital Camera Raffle - in February the London Travel Team held a Raffle, £1 a ticket to win a stylish digital camera. This event raised £85 and the winning ticket belonged to Roy Heavens, Night Driver at LTN.

  • Pool Competition - during February/March, the warehouse teams arranged a knock out Pool challenge, 50p a game. To add to the fun, there was a further sweepstake (£1 a tote) to bet against the eventual winner. This has proved to be a good fund raiser which has already raised £125, and has helped build team camaraderie, with staff mixing between departments.

  • Cake & Curry DayThe LTN Team held a cake and curry day on Friday 22nd March. Everyone at LTN joined in the feast and the curry’s sold out within the hour. The staff generally appreciated the effort made by those who cooked and baked, and commented that it should be done on a monthly basis! This event raised £76.

  • Guess the ‘Home’ Run - as part of my training, I decided to plan a final long run, and came up with the idea to run from work to home (Slough to Reading) a distance of 21 miles. I challenged everyone to guess how long it would take (£1 a guess); the winner to receive 25% of the pot with tins of Quality Streets as runners-up prizes for 2nd & 3rd. 


The challenge form was circulated amongst the Eastern Regional Managers meeting, Borehamwood Group and LTN teams. Guesses ranged from 1 hour, 8 hours, 2 days and never (these were the comedians!)

It was one of those days where the weather kept changing. The first 6 miles was dry, but when I got to 10 miles it started to snow, and then the weather turned to sleet and rain. I hit the ‘wall’ at 20 miles and slowed his pace, and finished in a time of 2:34:26

The winning guesses, were joint winners Kam Patel (Borehamwood) and Mike Doyle (Peterborough) who both guessed 2:35:00. This event raised £100.

The team in Borehamwood have supported me along the way, and have made a donation of £200. To date staff at LTN Group have raised an amazing £417 and this is still on-going."

Fantastic Eugene, thanks for the update and photos! Eugene has a Just Giving page, and the current donations total £1,232, smashing his target!. The support is really valued and appreciated. All monies raised will go to the Stroke Association.

He adds, "My training is going to plan and everyone is being really supportive - my personal thanks to all."

Good luck for Sunday, Eugene - here's to a great time and atmosphere in Paris!

1 comment:

  1. That's quite a marathon of fundraising events! Great to see other parts of Smiths News supporting your efforts.

    ReplyDelete