CHARITY UPDATE - CALLUM HALL
It's a while since we provided an update on Paralympic Athlete Callum Hall (who we are delighted to be sponsoring); So we've asked him to bring everyone up to speed on what he's been up to since the end of 2018.
Callum explains "In January I competed in my first marathon of the year in Dubai where I finished 7th. Unfortunately I had food poisoning the week before, which drained my energy levels and affected my lead up into the race, however I still pushed 1 minute outside my PB, a good sign that training has been working!
Straight from Dubai I travelled to Spain with my wife, Jade Jones-Hall, for a 4 week training camp. Long straight flat roads and low 20 degrees celsius temperatures (above the freeze in the UK) is great for getting some distance in. The area is near Murcia, which is predominantly flat and near the coast but with access to some steep hills. This is perfect as I began to enter a block of speed and strength training. This training involves many sessions hammering it downhill with fast hand speed at around 23-25mph. This is crucial to my training as many of the top men in the marathon will surge to try and break up a pack of wheelchair racers. You need to be able to stay with the other athletes or you risk dropping off the pack and losing the benefits of drafting!"
Callum moved to the Paris marathon as his next race in mid April. He told us that he was feeling strong going into the race off the back of Spain. "I took the lead from the start of the marathon which lead to a breakaway group of 5 of us. The race became tactical which included the newly reinstated Russian athletes after their blanket doping ban, as well as the world record holder. I was happy to come away with a 4th place finish which is my first top 5 finish at an international marathon!"
We think this is an absolutely amazing achievement and definitely shows that all that hard training is paying off. Go Callum!
Next up is a strange part of the season where Callum takes a break from road training and switches to track racing, focusing on 400m and 800m distances.
There will be more power/speed/short sessions to prepare for the Swiss Nationals in late May which is where the worlds best athletes race on one of the fastest tracks in the world. This aim is to produce quick times to climb the world rankings in order to be in with a chance of selection for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics! Callum comments "Fingers crossed my transition from Road to Track racing is smooth!
We have every faith and look forward to the next update from Callum in July.
Callum is 26 years old and originally from Yeadon in West Yorkshire. He was paralysed in September 2012 after stepping on a sea urchin in Greece. This caused an epidural abscess on his spine and resulted in paraplegia. Callum was passionate about sport, being a PE teacher and playing football before his accident. He took up wheelchair racing in 2014 after hearing about it from ex patients at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. If anyone is interested in supporting Callum to reach the next level of his career then please do get in touch with us:
marketing@300nr.co.uk or +44 113 336 5161
300 NORTH SPECIALISE IN RECRUITING EXPERTS WITHIN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE 300 NORTH WEBSITE OR CALL 0113 336 5161.
