David Scott-Ralphs, CEO of SeeAbility, is aiming to raise £10,000 (see counter below) in 2012 for the charity by taking part in ten Olympic and Paralympic disciplines including the Marathon, Fencing, Boxing, Badminton, Windsurfing, Rowing, Sailing, Boccia, Goalball and Tandem Cycling.

Keep up with my blog here         

 



8 Feb 2012 - Badminton
Completed my badminton challenge last night (after 8 hours of training during January) with a round robin tournament with members of SeeAbility's longstanding (and rather good) badminton troupe (pictured below).

Pity I didn't do any training for doubles! I'm pleased to say I didn't disgrace myself, although I won't yet give up the day job.
Anyway, that's two challenges down. Next up Boccia on 18 February.


Don't forget that you can support my challenge by logging onto www.vision2020uk.org.uk and clicking on 'Three Tenners Challenge'. Thank you!  

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30 Jan 2012

Got some miles into my legs this weekend with an 8 mile run.
I’m intending to do the Eastbourne ½ marathon on the 4th March as pre-training for the London Marathon. Sadly, Sally wont be joining me as she has a stress fracture of her leg. Instead stepdaughter Chloe will be joining me so at least I’ll still have some company!

The SeeAbility Badminton Team have accepted my challenge to a game or two on Wednesday 8th February (rumour has it that it will be a whitewash! But I’ll spare them!).

Mike, Peter and I are joining the GB Boccia Paralympic team on the 18th Feb as planned. Will tell you more about the noble art of Boccia when I’ve figured it out!

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6 Jan 2012 - Boccia

Just agreed dates for my first attempt at Boccia.  Exciting.

On 18 and 19 Feb. The Performance Director of the GB Boccia Team  has kindly agreed to show me and my fellow Tenners the game and hopefully teach us the basic rules..
 
If like me you know very little about the sport here's a brief explanation:
Boccia can be played by individuals, pairs, or teams of three and all events are mixed gender. The aim of the game is to throw balls coloured red or blue as close as they can to a white target ball, or jack. Which side gets which colour is determined by a coin toss.

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4 Jan 2012 - Badminton warm up  
 
Had my first badminton lesson. Harder than I imagined hitting that feathered thing.

Looking forward though to being good enough to give the SeeAbility Badminton Club a run for their money. I can hear them laughing from here!

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3 Jan 2012 - STOP PRESS

My marathon warm up actually got featured in the local paper .. but was too late to buy a copy. So no cutting I am afraid.

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1 Jan 2012 - Marathon warm up!

One in the bag!
  I kicked off my personal contribution to the Three Tenners Challenge on New Years Day with an additional event the ‘Knacker Cracker’ race on Box Hill in Surrey having stepped in for my fellow Tenner - Peter Corbett, he of the broken foot.

Usually a 10k race it was extended to12km in recognition of the year 2012. Great …

Talk about difficult! It was the hardest race I’ve ever done, marathons included. The course was steep, muddy and uneven throughout. And just when I thought I’d completed  the descent and it couldn’t get any worse it went back up 150 steep steps to the finish line.

Bizarrely I did enjoy it. Most runners (including me) did it in fancy dress. It was a great atmosphere  - a Scottish piper serenaded us at the start and there was plenty of encouragement and jelly beans along the way. I did it in a respectable 1 hour 35 minutes – the winner did it in 58! No pressure Peter but you’ll have to beat that next year!

Check out these pictures taken by my wife on her new camera.

Peter has also kindly supplied one of how he would have looked in his reindeer suit.



Thanks to those of you who have given early encouragement. Just to remind you, you can check out the full details on www.vision2020uk.org.uk under ‘Three Tenners Challenge’.

My disciplines to be completed through the year are:
Marathon, Fencing, Boxing, Badminton, Windsurfing, Rowing, Sailing, Boccia, Goalball and Tandem Cycling.