FIND YOUR LOCAL VENUE
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We all love burpees right? That full body exercise that also gives us a cardio workout. Well, BMF Instructor Peter Hunt from North Yorkshire loves them so much he’s set himself the crazy challenge of completing a mile of burpees! Here’s why:
“A good friend of mine from my school days, Lucy Stenbeck, and her husband David, have a five year old son called Jett who loves, tractors, dinosaurs and music. But he also has Muscular Dystrophy (MD). It’s essentially a muscle-wasting condition which not only affects his physical development, but also causes learning and behavioural difficulties as it has literally resulted in his brain being wired ‘differently’.
“There is no cure for MD, and almost nothing that alleviates the symptoms. Jett is in physical pain on a daily basis. He has never run properly (and never will either). He can’t walk very far and his condition will continue to degenerate as he grows older, leading him to be wheelchair bound; and naturally it affects his life expectancy.
“Lucy and David set up a family fund called The Jett Pack under the Muscular Dystrophy UK umbrella. Money raised by these family funds is split between
Peter with Jett
MDUK (for research) and a fund for the child’s needs. For example, when Jett requires a specialist wheelchair – which the family will have to pay for – they will need to widen all the doorways in their house, and put in ramps, as well as change their vehicle or have it suitably modified. At present, 90% of the money raised goes to MDUK, and 10% towards Jett.
“Knowing how enthusiastic I am about BMF and fitness, Lucy asked if I had any ideas to raise funds for the Jett Pack so I looked into MDUK’s ongoing campaign which is called Move A Mile For Muscles. It’s quite simple and very clever because it encourages people to find challenging or innovative ways to travel a mile to raise money for the charity. It is also poignant because people like Jett will never even be able to walk a mile.
“The way I’d challenge myself to travel was obvious – given that burpees are the go-to exercise that every member hates and every instructor loves making the members do, a mile of burpees seemed inevitable! I have therefore committed myself to completing 1 mile of travelling burpees at York Racecourse on Saturday April 29th. The racecourse is public access land, and there is even a concrete track running around the inside of it, so it’s a good controlled environment for the event. It also makes it easy for supporters to come along.
“Anyone who comes along can make on-the-spot donations on the day, in return for adding difficulty to what I’m doing – whether it’s a set of 10 chest-to-floor burpees, one-legged burpees, one-armed etc. It’s like a truly horrific Train The Trainer day!”
Peter on a training day
Good luck Pete! And if you’d like to support Pete and can’t turn up in person, you can also donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/burpeemileforjett
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