Josh West, a silver medallist rower in the Beijing Olympics, put the Ironman Challenge team through their paces at Harrow Way School in Andover.
At first the men’s eights rower took part in the session run by one of the Ironman team, Rebecca Parker and then gave advice and encouragement before he got the team to do part of his own gruelling fitness training. The team found some of it more difficult than others, but have promised to practice them at their early morning training sessions.
A game of basketball rounded off the session. Josh had an obvious advantage, as he is 6’ 8†tall!
During a picnic lunch on the school field, Josh answered questions from the team about his training; what it felt like to win an Olympic medal, etc.
He amazed the youngsters when he told them he had to eat between 5,000 and 7,000 calories a day during his training for the Olympics.
He told the students: “I’m very impressed with your drive and perseverance, training in all weathers, especially the cold, wet winter mornings.
“Your attitude and team spirit will get you through the Ironman-athon challenge on 2 July.â€
During the challenge a team of 16 will complete an Ironman distance triathlon – each member will swim 11 lengths, cycle 7 miles and run 2,700 metres.
The money raised from the challenge will be shared between the school and Testway Transform.
Testway Transform is the fundraising charity of Testway Housing. The Testway Transform Money Box Fund was set up to help community groups help the community.
The charity has given £56,000 to 53 community groups, to help with specialist equipment, training volunteers or special projects.