15.

Meet this weeks Teacher Feature…

Marc’s Story…

“Getting out every other weekday, just for 30 minutes of running, gave me something else to look forward to in the week…”

Until 2015 I had never ran for the bus, never mind for any kind of hobby. I wasn’t a sporty child and during my time at school I never saw myself represented in sport or found my place in physical education. I tried football, hockey, even cross-country. But I didn’t feel like I could be me. So I would skip Sports Day with any excuse, take extra music lessons (even though I had no musical ability either) and eventually I settled for art.

When I became an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) in 2013, I travelled to my first institute in Ireland and saw groups of educators meet up to run and explore Cork at the start or end of each day of the conference. Their journeys caught my attention. It was their chance to explore somewhere new and momentarily escape from a busy schedule. Later that year, I met some ADE peers in Amsterdam and again they would wake up and run 10KM in the city, seeing all the sights before the crowds of tourists. Again, their running journeys inspired me. After that trip, I went out to buy shorts, t-shirts and a pair of ASICS Gel Pulse. I downloaded a Couch to 5KM app and scheduled my interval runs each week.

The routine gave me something else to focus on other than work. Getting out every other weekday, just for 30 minutes of running, gave me something else to look forward to in the week. By the end of the 12 weeks I was able to run further than 5KM and a year later I had completed my first half marathon. When you start running, you see personal progress week by week. I wasn’t running fast, but the progress I made came at me fast!

My mum’s cancer returned in 2018 and to delay the spread of melanoma she enrolled on a clinical trial at The Christie Hospital in Manchester. Travelling from Nottingham every 2 weeks for 16 months, I saw her strength, determination and positivity. I recognised these characteristics in running too. Running made me strong in mind as well as in body. This is why I decided to return to Amsterdam to complete my first marathon. I ran for The Christie, I ran to fund clinical trials and I ran for my mum. I’ve completed 4 marathons for The Christie and I lost my mum to a brain tumour in December 2020. In the weeks around her end of life care, running kept me grounded. As well as the loved ones around me, running was another source of consistency and positivity in this challenging time.

I think running is all about the journey you go on. This can be exploring a place or the progress you make over time. I am now a member of Holme Pierrepont Running Club and this team gives me the skills and courage I need to push myself further. I’ve found my place in sport and the benefits of sport has a place in who I am too. With a team around me, I run strong, I run tall but most of all, I run proud. I never experienced this as a young person in sports but as a teacher I can now promote equality and inclusion because of my perspective on running.

Now I share my passion for running with others. During the pandemic I partnered with local businesses in Nottingham to design running routes which start and end at their food outlet. The idea of my Grub Runs is to ‘Meet – Run – Eat’ with friends. There has been a new route published each month and  over 700 downloads. Internationally, I motivate my Apple Distinguished Educator peers to move for their mind too. As we’ve been unable to attend our Global Institutes with Apple, I have organised ‘On The Move’ challenges with two ADE friends (Katie and Jason) and our regional teams complete a walk, run, cycle or swim for 30 minutes on a set date. Their individual efforts earn points for their regional team. These virtual challenges have kept our community connected through the sharing of a goal, lifting our minds and bodies from online learning to our wellbeing. Through sport, we’ve moved in the same direction; no matter where in the world we are.

Click the link bellow to follow Marc’s running journey on Twitter!!!