On 9th July 75 runners will take on the Leeds 10k with the Run with the Rhinos team and for one runner, completing the race will be part of a remarkable journey that has seen him lose over 5 stone to run in the same team as one of his sporting heroes.
Back in January, Ash Marshall, 24, who works at Leeds Rhinos as a Customer Experience Sales Executive made the decision to get in shape and lose weight. Six months on and he is now well on his way to reaching his goal weight and is getting ready to join the Run with the Rhinos team alongside Kevin Sinfield MBE.
Speaking about his journey to competing in the Leeds 10k Ash said: “This will be the first time I have ever done a 10k and I am a little nervous, but looking forward to it too. This time last year if you’d said I would be running a 10k I would have laughed, but in the last six months I have started a new health regime and I am now ready to take on the Leeds 10k.
“In January, myself and some of my workmates, decided to challenge ourselves to lose weight and each week we paid into a pot and at the end of eleven weeks the person who lost the most weight won the money. This was the starting point and firstly I started to look at my diet and to eat more healthily and I lost enough weight to win the competition. I didn’t want it to end there though and I was determined not to put the weight on again, so I joined the gym and that helped me to lose even more weight. When I started I weighed 20st 9lbs and now I weigh 15st 4lb.
“I now train every other day and I have been surprised at how quickly my fitness has improved. When I first started I struggled to do half an hour on the cross trainer and now I can do an hour and half. I am really into the training now, so when the opportunity came up to join the Run with the Rhinos team, I thought it was a great chance to challenge myself further.
Ash will be joining colleagues and Rhinos fans in the Run with the Rhinos team and also Rhinos’ legendary captain Kevin Sinfield, and he says this has been a big motivation for him.
“I am delighted that I will get to be in the same team as Kevin Sinfield,” he said. “I have supported the Rhinos all my life and Kevin is one of my heroes. I am not sure I will be able to beat him but I would like to at least keep him in my sights! I am hoping to finish in under an hour – but the most important thing for me will be just to finish!
“It’s been tough at times to change habits and get healthy, but I feel better and am really proud of what I have achieved so far and it will be a great personal accomplishment if I complete the Leeds 10k. My colleagues have been really supportive, particularly Jess Ives, who suggested the idea of the competition and has helped me stay motivated along the way.
“Through doing the Leeds 10k with the Run with the Rhinos team I am hoping to raise a lot of money for Leeds Rhinos Foundation. Being a lifelong Rhinos supporter I know the great work their official charity do in helping my local community and the money I raise will help them to continue to do this.”
If you would like to donate to Ash Marshall visit his Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/Ashley-Marshall93?utm_id=26