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BMF member, Andy, completes 25 'green bib' sessions in a month

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Last month, Andy Judt, 49, took on 25 'green bib' BMF sessions to raise vital funds for a Brain Tumour charity, after his father passed away from a brain tumour when Andy was just seven years old. So far, the enthusiastic BMF member has raised £1,700 for the charity, which is at the forefront of the fight to defeat brain tumours.

Andy, who has been a member of British Military Fitness for over 11 years, not only took on 25 sessions, but did so as a green bib member of BMF. He commented: “When I spoke to my family and agreed to undertake the challenge of 25 Green BMF sessions from 20 June to 20 July little did I really know about the effort, dedication, training, nutrition, physiotherapy and recovery required to succeed.  Despite being one of the 50 longest-standing members at BMF (11+ years) I thought I'd taken on perhaps more than I could chew.  However, then the concept of the ‘Animal’ was conceived and brought to life with huge help from BMF Instructor Jel Bearder. It helped to add real focus and a sense of fun to the challenge.  When putting together the timetable I realised that I’d have to attend multiple locations and perhaps multiple sessions on some days.  As a result I attended sessions at Ally Pally, Finsbury Park, Hampstead Heath, Shoreditch and Cheam (Nonsuch). It was a tough challenge, but one I felt compelled to take on. I lost my father to a brain tumour when I was very young and obviously the impact on my life was enormous. I decided that I wanted to do something really valuable that had the ability to change the lives of other people affected by brain tumours, as well as something that would be challenging enough to push my boundaries. That’s when I came up with the 25 session challenge!”

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Andy, a Finance Director, is aiming to raise £2,000 for the Brain Tumour Charity and credits BMF with helping him to achieve the confidence needed to take on the challenge. He continued: “BMF has definitely kept me young - other members are genuinely surprised when I say I am nearly 50! BMF has not only allowed me to form a group of lovely, supportive friends but it has given me so much mental strength. I have gained so much confidence from the classes as well as greater levels of fitness, both of which I couldn’t have taken on this challenge without. There were so many tough classes (as expected by donning a green bib!) but the two that spring to mind are a class at Hampstead Heath where we carried around a 10kg bag for the bulk of the session (I'd turned up to the wrong meeting point, that I remembered from 7 years ago, so nearly missed this class...I can't decide if it was good or bad to have found the correct meeting point in time!) while undertaking all the normal types if exercises. The other tough session was at Finsbury Park, where we had 3 instructors each attacking a different part of the body (upper, core and legs).  I was pretty shell-shocked after that.  The double session on my final Tuesday, when it was about 34C certainly ended my run of classes memorably too!"

I love BMF, but my favourite class in this instance was definitely the last one, when I knew I had completed the challenge, and my dear wife brought a bottle of bubbly for me and the class to enjoy!
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Many things kept me going throughout the month.  First was the wonderful support from the class-mates and instructors (although the instructors didn’t take it easy on me - quite the contrary!), the second was my lovely supportive family and friends, the third was my physio, protein drinks, foam rollers, isotonic drinks and bananas, and last, but certainly the most important, was the fabulous charity that provides real help, support and research for brain tumour sufferers and their loved ones.  My courage, dedication and commitment came from them and the opportunity to help them in some small way.

To help me reach my target goal of £2,000, you can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Andy-Judt

 

 

Great work Andy!

 

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