Leeds Rhinos legend Barrie McDermott will once again be joining the Run/Walk with the Rhinos team on the 12th July for the Asda Foundation Leeds 10k and with a month to go is urging all fans interested to sign up and join him at the start line to the event.
The former Rhinos prop forward is joining the event for the 6th year running alongside this year’s Run/Walk with the Rhinos stars Jamie Peacock and actor and Leeds Rhinos Foundation Vice-President Matthew Lewis, to raise money for the Leeds Rhinos Foundation and Jane’s Appeal.
As Player Welfare Manager for the Rhinos squad since 2014, Barrie is still involved heavily with the club in his role that focusses on player welfare across the whole playing structure at the club including the first team squad, having previously spent over a decade as a player and later as Head of Youth Development.
Barrie is a long term ambassador for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal and joined over 120 runners at last year’s Leeds 10k to raise money for the charities and promote his passion for healthy lifestyles and physical activity:
“It's always a pleasure to be part of the Leeds 10k, obviously the money is a bonus but giving people a motivation and target for physical exercise is more focus for me. Being healthy is more important than being fit." said McDermott.
“The highlight is always finishing in one piece, the Leeds 10k was the first ever charity run I signed up for almost 10 years ago and I love the atmosphere, encouragement and smiles from the crowd while I'm ambling round the course.”
Barrie made a full recovery from a shoulder operation in May to take part in the Hull 10k on Sunday and will complete several of the Jane’s Appeal sponsored events this year:
“I'm running virtually all the Jane Tomlinson Appeal events this year, they are a brilliant organisation with quality people like Mike that support the fantastic legacy Jane has left behind in encouraging so many people to be active and fundraise for great causes.
“As for my shoulder, it is an ongoing legacy of the great game, so running is a hobby I enjoy now I can't lift weights but its good in many ways as the more I run, the more I can eat!”
The former Great Britain International is excited to see the Run/Walk with the Rhinos team growing by the day in preparation for July 12th and has kept his competitive edge going into this year’s race:
“It’s great to see well over a hundred people signed up already and I hope to see many more before the day all taking part and hopefully raising as much money as possible for two great charities.
”I’m not really focussing on the time, I always run to win, so as long I'm in first place I'm not bothered about the time….”
If you would like to take part in this year's event, register your interest with Jessica.Bowman@leedsrugby.com
If you would like to support the Leeds Rhinos Foundation and Jane's Appeal you can make a personal donation to the Run/Walk with the Rhinos fundraising page at the link below:
https://mydonate.bt.com/events/rwwtr15/218128