As members of AC Pontymister we are used to annually helping a charity. Past fundraising has included supporting Maisie’s Steps to Hope and to help raise breast cancer awareness.
This year we decided that instead of the raffles and football-related events that were natural to us, we would challenge ourselves and do something that we have never experienced before. We chose to run the St David’s Hospice Newport Half Marathon.
Our first team Assistant Manager, Mark Powell, and his son Luke, an ACP player, were personally affected by the tragic loss of their son / brother Craig in May 2008. Craig died on his 22nd birthday due to an undetected heart condition. Many of the current players are friends of the family and were also affected by the tragedy. So, after consultation, we decided that we would like this year’s charity to be CRY.
With the first couple of runners confirmed, others stated their desire to help out. Elliot Donald, Dave Cleere and Stuart Goodwin were quickly followed by Laurie Kidman, Lewis Davies, Lee Elliot, Lewis Coburn, Dan Williams and Nathan George. Then Mark Powell, at a spritely age of 44, decided that he would train and take part.
We agreed to make a justgiving page and set a target of £500. Sponsorship was put on social media sites and we soon had amassed a healthy amount. Ideas that aided the cause were the setting up of a text donation option where you could text an amount of sponsorship; and a social media drive that mirrored the infamous “Neck Nominate” challenge with a more worthy and sensible “Donate for a Mate”. All of this helped us achieve our target a few days before the event.
Unfortunately, hand-in-hand with competitive football comes injuries. First Laurie, then Dave, then Dan. This was followed by late withdrawals from Mark and Stuart. Last minute replacements were needed; into the fray stepped Connor Dimmick, Lewis Pontin and Stuart George.
We arose early and put on our Ponty kits. We lined up with over a thousand others and were proud and excited at the prospect of completing our challenge. We wished each other well and had the countdown to the start. Due to our competitive nature, not long after we crossed the start line and embarked on the daunting task of completing the distance, we were all separated and running at differing speeds.
After a gruelling race – with a headwind and light rain for most of the duration – travelling over bridges and round rivers, our weary legs got us back to Rodney Parade to complete the race in front of supporters as far as the eye could see.
Seeing the support and the finish line was an awe inspiring sight, but one-by-one as we got closer the horrifying reality dawned upon us… we couldn’t just go straight to the finish line, there was another lap of Rodney Parade before we could finish!
The extra pace and longer stride that we all added upon entering the ground, to pretend we were fine, was about to disappear and the true extent of our efforts to show.
The extra unexpected lap did little to enhance our disguise as long distance runners, but it did show our determination and drive to succeed no matter what.
At the end, legs shaking and smiles gone, we all got together and wearily congratulated one another. We had done it.
Connor had come first out of the group at 1 hour 38 minutes 37 seconds; with the last coming in at 2 hours 10 minutes.
It was a tremendous effort with great publicity for CRY. Our endeavours had been superbly appreciated, as when we returned home we found that our sponsorship had gone from our £500 target to nearly £900!
People are still donating, so hopefully with fingers crossed we can reach 200% of our target and get a thousand pounds – all for a charity that is close to our club and it’s players.
Elliot Donald
A.C. Pontymister
