Inspirational Member Story: Kevin Peggs
We thought we would catch up with member Kevin Peggs on his progress in achieving his London Classic medal since the Coronavirus pandemic hit! The London classic is the London equivariant of the Sporting Triple Crown. This means you have completed the London Marathon, Prudential RideLondon 100 and the Swim Serpentine 2 mile events.
Kevin let us in on his inspiration behind the challenge: I have always been a competitive person and one who likes to take on a challenge. As only one thousand people have completed all three sporting events I wanted to become part of this select group of people. Given my thing is Swim, Run and Cycle this was a natural fit as a challenge for me.
He decided to take this on after finishing the Prudential Ride London 100 mile event in August 2019. Two months later Kevin entered the London Marathon scheduled for 24th April 2020 running for Team Barnardo’s and the 2-mile Swim Serpentine on the 26th September 2020. He thought that the difficult part was over – getting accepted to take part! Now he could put all of his focus into his training.
Well I don’t think anyone could have predicted or prepared for the plot twist ahead! Like everyone, the COVID19 pandemic threw Kevin’s life upside down and sent him on an emotional rollercoaster. He had been a model athlete, studiously following his training plans for months and getting the miles under his belt but because of lockdown, each event date kept changing so Kevin had to constantly adapt his training. First the Marathon was postponed from the April to October, and then cancelled to be replaced by a Virtual Event on the 4th October. The Swim Serpentine is now delayed until September 2021.
From the stopping and starting of these events, Kevin completed 2 x 16week Marathon training plans which entailed covering 400miles each. He also already completed two thirds of the Swim preparation for the Serpentine event, which meant pounding up and down the pool at the Hogarth!
Prior to Lockdown, Kevin was a regular at the Hogarth at least four to five times a week running on the treadmill, cycling on the Wattbike and swimming. One of the highlights of the pre pandemic training with Team Barnardo’s was meeting and training with Daley Thompson CBE, two time Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner. When we got wind of lockdown, Kevin invested in a treadmill to have at home to keep running whilst the Hogarth was temporarily closed. What became the biggest challenge was keeping the motivation.
I have always had a competition or events in my diary to give me something to aim my training for. This keeps me going at the end of a busy day when all I want to do is sit on the sofa. Also having worked so hard over the years to get as fit as I am, I was not going to let the pandemic make me lose it!
So, what Kevin turned his attention on was ‘Ironman Virtual Reality’. Many might be aware of the Ironman or Half Ironman events around the world, which cover 140 or 70 miles of swimming, cycling and running. As all of the mass participation Ironman events were cancelled, it went online as a virtual event. This meant you needed to run/cycle on your own either at home on your treadmill and Smart Bike trainer or outdoors. This was a real-life saver for Kevin and during this time he competed in 6 x Olympic distance Ironman VR events (3km run, 40km Cycle and 10km run). The high point was Ironman VR16 when he completed a virtual half Ironman (70.3 miles) running and cycling within 12hours! Having the virtual Ironman champion events really helped Kevin over lockdown and he nearly qualified for the 70.3 Ironman World Championships in his age group!
Since completing his last Ironman VR event, Kevin is now back ready to finally tackle that Virtual London Marathon. Within week 15 of his training plan, Kevin is tapering after completing the last long training run on the 20th Sept, which was 20 miles.
With the training almost complete I am really looking forward to the event on Sunday 4th October. If you are out and about on the day between Kew and Putney Bridges give me a wave, I will be the runner in my Barnardo’s all green running gear with my name on the front!
In any case, it has all been worth it as I have reached my minimum goal of £2,000 raised for the children’s charity Barnardo’s from the great support of friends, family, colleagues and Hogarth members. If you would like to make a donation, here is my JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kevin-peggs6. I also want to give a big shout out to Ambi and Vojin who have very actively supported my efforts via the club.
Kevin, it’s been emotional. We wish you all the best on Sunday. You’re an absolute star!