UHNM staff complete epic 24-hour race for UHNM Charity
Two members of staff UHNM from UHNM have completed a gruelling 24-hour endurance race in aid of UHNM Charity.
Dr Andrew Bennett, Specialist Doctor in Emergency Medicine and porter Lee Jones took part in Endure 24, where they were given 24 hours to complete as many laps as possible of an 8k circuit around Branham Park in Leeds.
Dr Bennett achieved an overall distance of 70 miles, whilst Lee covered 65 miles in the allocated time.
Dr Bennett said: “Having never ran an official ultra-marathon before, I had the main goal of running the distance of three marathons. Following that, I had three other possible goals in mind- to run further than I have ever run before, then run over 50 miles, and finally run over 100km.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t quite achieve my main goal of three marathons in 24 hours. I was incredibly close, but due to a problem with my compression supports causing pain in my right leg, I had to stop at 23 hours. But having achieved my other three goals I couldn’t be happier.
“Considering that I only took up running again in November last year, I am really pleased. I learned so much about ultra-running during this event that I could use to run further in my next challenges. Having a target in mid was a great motivator that helped me reached the distance I did. But above all, having the support from so many donations spurred me on to do my very best, so thank you to everybody who has donated so much.
“Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to my wife Jenette and daughter Marianne for being such incredible support during this event. This was very much a team effort, and it wouldn’t have been possible without them. Marianne even ran the kid’s mini mile which was a very proud moment for mum and dad.”
Lee said: “The event was amazing. Everyone taking part was there for each other, as well as their own personal goals- we were all doing this crazy thing together.
“I was doing well for 25 to 30 miles then it started to rain, and I needed to get a change of clothes and get warm. After a couple of hours rest, I carried on but the rain persisted and I needed to change again. At this point of the race, I’d done 50 miles and knew that my 100-mile target was out of reach, but was determined to equal my previous attempts and did another 15 miles, reaching 65 in total.”
“I’ve already entered again next year as I have a dragon to slay now, and I feel I need to give it one more try.”
Dr Bennett has also produced a video documenting his run- watch here.
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