A marathon, straightforward we hear you say, well not if you do it like this

Created On: 08 May 2010

Recently we came across a remarkable individual taking on an amazing challenge for charity, to swim a marathon…that's 42.2km in a pool on his own in one day, not so straightforward now!

My name is Mark Taylor, a 42 year old man who is in his 'mid life'. You know how it is, you hit 40 and start to worry about what's going to stop working. You then decide to 'get a bit fitter' to stop the 34 inch waist (Ok.. 36 inch waist)  from getting bigger. You get those 'ah bless' looks from your wife as she says "never mind, I'll love you no matter.". It's all a bit concerning. You then do a bit of swimming, a bit of running and you dig the bike out of the shed and realise how painful the saddle is again. Before you know it you've signed up to a triathlon club, completed your first sprint and get totally addicted to getting your fitness back to how it was in your 20's.

My journey into endurance sport followed this exact pathway......

So, after being in Northants Tri club for 18 months and completing the Cowman Half Ironman last year I thought it was time for a proper challenge. Not that the Half didn't challenge me - it did, but I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. Land's End to John O'Groats was interesting. London Marathon? Channel Swim? It was hard to decide, but these had been done many times before.

Then, in November 2009, the idea hit me - why don't I swim a marathon run distance of 42.2km?  With a Google search, I found something that hadn't been done often; in fact, I only found one reference to this challenge in America, certainly not in the UK. Next thought? "Why has only one person done this before?" I wanted to know.

So, with the idea and an obvious question, I started to share my plan with family, friends and members of the Tri Club. All gave the same response… "Are you mad?" I guess this was to be expected, especially when I shared that this would be a pool swim. Other comments included doubts about the possibility of completing the challenge without going mildly insane toward the end, suffering muscle damage and exhaustion - the list was growing, as were my doubts. This would need some serious looking into.

After searching for an appropriate venue, I was pleased that the Mounts Leisure Centre in Northampton agreed to host the event and the date was set for Wednesday 7^th July 2010. Calculations were made, indicating that the distance would total 1400 lengths of the 30 metre pool and would need to be completed in about 14 hours. Reality started to sink in as now the clock was officially ticking.   

So with plans in the making and unknowns to find, the journey started. Firstly, my swim wasn't bad, but the farthest I'd swum was the 2km for the Half Ironman. My stroke was seen to be pretty good, but how I was going to take the 2km distance to the required 42.2km? The answer was to ask lots of questions, train consistently, listen to my body and adjust goals as necessary.

The trick, I thought would be to focus on stroke technique to increase my swim efficiency before working on distance. This proved the key, as a closer look at my stroke noted several flaws which needed immediate attention. Thanks to Coach Casson of Ntri, a plan was put into place and immediate improvement was noticed - now for the distance... want to know more? Log on my Facebook group 'Mark's Marathon Swim Challenge' where I will also be recording what happens in the next few weeks.

But less about me, more about the charity I'm supporting. For this, there could only be one choice - Children's Hospices UK - a national charity that gives voice and support to all children's hospice services. Their vision is for every child and young person who is not expected to reach adulthood - and their families - to have awareness of, and access to, the highest standards of care and support close to or in the home. When considering the things in life that scare me, I can't think of anything bigger than the thought of one of my children dying before me. If I were ever to find myself in the situation that this was imminent, I'd like to think that we would have the care and support of such an organisation.

To make donating easy, follow this link to www.Justgiving.com/marksmarathonswimchallenge and give as much as you can afford. Any donation will go to making the lives of the children and their families more comfortable during a very difficult time.

When thinking of the challenge and what will happen through the day, I'm expecting it to be tough and to hurt, but this will be incomparable to the experiences of those children suffering life threatening illnesses. I'm amazed at the ways in which children face life with strength and tenacity, something we adults seem to lose as we get caught up in the seemingly 'important' things that, when looked at more closely, aren't so.

Maybe we all have something to learn from children...?

So, click the link, follow the challenge and please donate to this very important charity!

Here at TRIfinder.co.uk we are keen to support people who take on amazing challenges for charity and we hope that by giving Mark some exposure to like minded athletes we can help Mark hit his fundraising total. As the challenge gets closer Mark will be updating us on his training and the challenges he faces, but in the mean time please get behind him, follow him on facebook and donate if you can.

Related Articles

• ZEROD announces first sporting ambassador
• Zone3 prizes for SwimFesT entries
• Zone3 launches the World’s most exclusive wetsuit
• Zoggs launch new goggles for 2012
• Aqua Sphere K180 Curved Lens Goggle