TEAM TRAIN FOR WORLD RECORD TILT
Supporters of the Matt Hampson Foundation’s northern hub continued their build-up to a world record attempt with a strong performance in the RunThrough Newcastle 10K.
The group are targeting a world record for pushing a person in a wheelchair over the half-marathon distance at this year’s Great North Run while also raising funds for Gym Possible, the accessible exercise facility and northern satellite partner of the Matt Hampson Foundation based at Gateshead Leisure Centre.
A middle-distance athlete before being paralysed by a spinal injury in the United States during 2014, Drew Graham teamed up with the Foundation which supports young people following life-changing injury in sport and he created Gym Possible after struggling to find suitable facilities to continue rehabilitation when he returned home to the North-East.
In 2023, a team of supporters completed the Great North Run in a time just outside two hours while pushing Drew around the Tyneside course and last year they carved more than 30 minutes off that mark.
Now they are aiming for a world record time under 1hr 16min over the 13-mile half-marathon distance in September.
As part of the team’s training, they finished the Newcastle 10K based in a time of 36min 19sec.
In a post on LinkedIn, the team said: “They still have a lot of training to do before September and three more pushers to join the team so are definitely on track!”
The teams sends thanks to Regain for supporting purchase of a Hippocampe racing chair, RMA Sport and Gary Graham for getting it ready, to Science in Sport, PUMA Group Running and Start Fitness UK, and event organisers RunThrough.
For more details, see the Gym Possible website.
