25 grand - 250k - love island

this week i have mostly been sleeping in a tent in a wood.

why, i hear the inquisitive and curious ones amongst you ask?

well, one of our throng created a mad event, and i wanted to support him, especially as he is doing it in a quest to raise £25,000 for bigmoose.

i have talked about lewis robling here before, but for context, lew and i became mates a number of years ago when chloe spoke on a panel event a number of years ago now in london, and i think our sporting backgrounds attracted us, and lew's girlfriend steph has become great pals with chloe, fundraising for bigmoose raising thousands herself through a number of great events she has arranged (thanks steph)

lew at the time we met, was a professional rugby player, and since his retirement i have watched him grow into an amazing ultra runner, and becoming a coach to hundreds, this is a very driven young man.

however, even whilst looking on the surface to be living the dream life, lew was struggling with some mental health issues that were stopping him from really being happy, resulting in him agreeing that he could possibly benefit from talking to one of our therapists.

this, as a guy from a very alpha male background was a massive step in his personal development, and extremely brave, and when he confided in me that he wanted to tell his story via his large social media reach, we discussed the impact that would have on his life forever, as once the genie was out of the lamp, it wasn’t going back in.

lew decided that if telling his story helped one person to get help, it was worth it, and as i read his emotionally charged, extremely frank and honest post, i was inspired by his openness and raw honesty, in a world that has snipers on every street corner, ready to take shots.

but, what he wrote resonated with many, especially men, struggling in a world where expectations are men need to be strong, and if they’re not the encouragement is often built around ‘manning up’ or 'growing a pair’ which if you dissect both of these sayings, they are extremely damaging, and in my opinion often very responsible for why men don’t speak up and why so many of my gender take their own lives every year.

this has to change, and brave young men like lew are the ones that can make change, and his tenacity and relevance in this arena is mind blowingly powerful.

lot’s of people talk a good game, but lewis commits, and takes action, and i am a big fan, as you can tell.

so why sleep in the woods?  
well.

back in 2021 when we had the mad dream to try to raise a million pounds in twelve months for bigmoose, lew was one of the first on my team sheet.

i rang him to tell him our idea, and hoping he might want to get involved, and become one of our team of people that would individually raise ten thousand pounds. 

within five minutes of telling him about the skeleton of the idea, he was in, but not for £10k, this crazy cat wanted to raise £25k, and over the weeks we sketched out a plan.

his big hairy audacious goal was to run 5 x 250k ultra marathons in 2022, using them to stimulate his social media following and peer group to support him in a fundraising capacity, as well as obtain great exposure for bigmoose, and as we agreed for him to become our first ambassador, he would spread the word of how can help people that are struggling.

as he set off on his personal challenge, i knew that, as always happens with these kind of things, that the end of the challenge would be the business end of the gig, and with four ridiculously tough physical 250k ultra marathons under his belt, his fifth in mexico was looming, and then unexpectedly got cancelled, and his dream was looking very much like it was going to be stopped through no fault of his own.

but, and this is the measure of the man, he decide to create his own 250k race.

how?

by being tenacious, by never giving up, and by taking action.

in an extremely short timeframe he has designed a 250k race in campwell farm near bath, and on tuesday this week a team of fifteen fellow ultra runners assembled, ready to commit to running 50k every day for five days, with the most awful weather predicted, everybody who committed, stood under our shiny brand new bigmoose arch ready to help lew and bigmoose, and as they set off my head was full of emotion at everyone involveds commitment of time, energy and love, cometh the hour, cometh the man and woman.

i was there personally to help volunteer to support the runners with filling their water bottles, getting them to eat when they forget, encourage them when they need it, and help the run be the most enjoyable experience possible.

what i didn’t realise was going to happen was, all of these people who were donating their time, and their fundraising reach, were going to galvanise and form friendships, and as the last girl crossed the finish line last night in the dark because she had got lost twice, and had run off course adding a shed load of distance to her day, every person involved waited and clapped, whooping and cheering her across the line, which made me extremely proud.

the other extremely proud moment was when a friend of lew's, greg, who i believe just might have won love island, turned up to support him, and run one, possibly two 18k loops.

now greg is an interesting young man, having played rugby sevens professionally for ireland, playing at the olympics, as well as his victory on the popular tv show, and i first met him earlier this year when our friends at https://www.runna.com/ supported bigmoose at their inaugural mental health run in battersea park, and greg ran his first ever 10k, which he was ecstatic about.

it then transpires that he got a last minute london marathon place, where he completed his next milestone distance.

this was only a month ago, so yesterday as he stood on the start line, his plan was to do his first trail miles to support his mate, and as mentioned see whether he would enjoy the off road sensation enough to attempt a second go around the muddy, hilly course, and as he finished loop one, i could see he was loving it, and he was definitely heading out for round two, but the strain of the energy sapping conditions underfoot, as well as the wet british weather, had him finished after two.

or was he.

as he lay on the physio bench, getting his legs massaged, i chatted with him, knowing that if he started a third loop he had the potential to run his furthest distance ever, and the feeling of pride he would get would be amazing.

"fancy a third” i asked?

“i can’t, i’m broken” he said in his velvety irish voice.

i did nothing more but look at him.

"jeff, don’t look at me like dat, you’re putting pressure on me” he laughed.

“pressure is privilege” i replied.

“i say dat, dat’s my thing, pressure is privilege.” 

i said no more. 

as he set off i knew his life would never be the same, i knew he was about to become an ultra runner, and i knew he would travel the world meeting amazing people, having amazing adventures.

i smiled.

as he finished his first 55k run, his emotions and happiness were fantastic to watch, and later when we chatted, he explained he loved the vibe and the people, and i agreed.

lewis robling i salute you sir, your action is changing peoples worlds, for good, thank you.

i’m back in cardiff this morning for work, then back to bath tomorrow for the last two days, i can’t wait, please give lew a follow, and some support even if just an online cheer, @lewis_robling

https://www.justgiving.com/team/lewisrobling

have a great week,

blue skies,

jeff

p.s. good luck to my mate will fuller merthyr town goalie, in their fa cup tie tomorrow.