Team True Spirit meet Chrissie Wellington and James Cracknell

Over the last couple of weeks the team have been very active around the UK and have met with some of the sporting worlds top stars. At the TCR (triathlon, cycling, running) event the team met with the Ford Ironman World Champion, Chrissie Wellington and chatted about the aims of the team and also about the support the team need.

Chrissie was very enthusiastic and signed books and shirts and wished us all the best:

Just a few days later and Martin and Mark from the team met up with Olympic gold medallist, James Cracknell and Mark showed him what it means to ride a handbike around the Ironman course. James is no stranger to cycling but was very impressed at the level of effort needed.

Mark then showed James pictures of the team training at Headley Court and explained the various sessions that the athletes go through to prepare them for the Ironman race itself.

 

Its fair to say, Team True Spirit have made an impression on two sporting superstars and we thank them for their support and enthusiasm.

Our Charities:

The aims of Team True Spirit have always been two fold:

• To offer injured servicemen the chance to race an Ironman Triathlon - to give them the belief that by completing something so tough, that they can recover from their injuries and take that mental belief and success forward for the rest of their recovery and rehabilitation.

• To raise as much money and awareness of their situation as we can. Through the races we are competing in during 2012 we hope to raise over £20,000 through donations to the charities that are close to our hearts and who we partner with.

We support FIVE very worthwhile charities all of whom help our injured servicemen and their families at some point through their recovery.

Please take some time to see the amazing work that each charity does by visiting their website or by following the links from our donations page HERE

Getting the Equipment in order

This week saw the first members of the team visit TRIUK to get fitted for their bikes, wetsuits and kit for the season ahead.



The team would like to thank TRIUK for all their help and support and as you can see, the team were well looked after on their visit, with bike fitting being provided and expert advice on which kit would suit each athlete the best.

Can we beat 2011 ???

Team True Spirit achieved so much in 2011.

The team of injured servicemen and their support crew were told so many times that what we were looking to do was unrealistic, that we couldn't do it and that it would all be a disaster.

But how wrong they were !!!!

When the team of 30 athletes crossed the line at Ironman UK Bolton we capped an amazing and emotional day - we raised over £10,000 for the military charities we support, but more than that we gave immense belief to the guys and gals who were part of the team.

This year we hope to go to even higher levels, we have over 60 members of the team and we want to raise over £20,000 for our charities --- > SEE HERE

We are supporting FIVE very worthy organisations:

Help 4 Heroes
BLESMA
Army Benevolent Fund
Royal Marines Association
Forces Childrens Trust

If you can help and donate, then please click HERE to help us help them.


Here are some photo's from the race:

Team True Spirit - the 2012 version !!!!

After the amazing success of 2011 where 30 individuals from Team True Spirit completed the Ironman UK Triathlon, the project has now moved on to another level with over 60 servicemen and support staff signed up for the 2012 attempt.

The Ironman UK Triathlon consists of:

3.8km open water swim
180km bike ride over the hills around Wigan and Bolton
42.2km run (yes, thats a full marathon)

It's probably the hardest single day endurance event that you can undertake and for Team True Spirit that is even harder, given the injuries that the servicemen have sustained and are battling back from.

You can read more about the team on the website HERE

You can also make a donation to help the military charities that we support HERE

The team will be completing warm up races such as the Cotswold113 half-ironman race and the Liverpool Olympic Triathlon and other individual members will be completing other gruelling events in the build up to the big race in Bolton.

Please support us and watch this space for more information.