Barefoot runner tops marathon challenge with University support
A RUNNER who attempted a series of marathon challenges barefoot style to raise thousands of pounds for a children’s hospital has crossed the finishing line with help from the University of Chichester.
Athlete Andy McGhee took on seven shoeless races in as many days to obtain £10,000 for the paediatric high dependency unit at Southampton General Hospital – a cause close to his heart as it once saved his son’s life during a severe asthma attack.
The 37-year-old’s bare 7×7 challenge – a 190-mile total running distance based across the south coast and the Isle of Wight and undertaken with fellow runners Dylan Moore and Haig Youens – was supported by physiotherapist Paul McIntyre from the University of Chichester.
Mr McIntyre works at the institution’s Sports Performance and Rehabilitation Unit (SPRU), which draws on the expertise of its academics to provide rehabilitative care for amateur and professional athletes within specialist laboratories and injury clinics.
He said: “It was a tough week for the runners both physically and psychologically, but they were supported throughout by myself and a recently qualified Sports Therapy graduate from the University with intensive care at the start and end of every race.
“As soon as Andy had finished each seven-hour marathon, he needed rigorous care, including an immediate ten-degree ice bath to significantly reduce muscle soreness to aid in his recovery for the following day.
“This presented a rather interesting challenge for us, as we had to arrange the ice baths wherever the runners had finished – whether that was in the middle of the forest and even a petrol station.”
As part of the challenge, the father of four, who works as a personal trainer in Hamble, started the 26.4-mile barefoot marathon wearing a thin rubber sole to protect from broken glass and other objects.
The money raised from the challenge will be donated to the Southampton-based hospital unit, which treats patients from birth to 18-years-old.
The majority of its young patients require long-term ventilation support using specialist portable stat machines, costing £800 each, and which are required beside every bed.
Barefoot runner Andy said: “I have four children and three of them have asthma. A couple of years ago the youngest – Jude – was rushed into hospital, the high dependency unit (HDU) at Southampton General, this time it was a little more serious.
“The resuscitation team did a fantastic job of bringing Jude’s oxygen levels under control. He is really well now and we are extremely grateful to everyone that has helped over the years gone by.
“We thought up this challenge as a way to and raise money for the HDU at Southampton General. The goal is to raise £10,000 so that we can purchase equipment enabling them to help and improve lives and improve the experience of the families stay within the unit.”
The barefoot challenge has so far raised £8,000 – some £2,000 short of the total target.
To find out more about Andy and his 7×7 barefoot challenge, including how to donate to the fund, visit www.bare7x7challenge.org.uk.
Alternatively for more about the University of Chichester’s Sport Performance and Rehabilitation Unit (SPRU), and how it can help support athletes, go to www.chi.ac.uk/spru.
