Scotland’s Resident Iron-Man
Lacrosse Scotland member, Charlie Shearer, recently underwent a grueling challenge, here he explains why:
Several Issues ago, as we remembered Scotland’s #4, Jamie was kind enough to mention that I was racing in the Canaries, raising money for Help for Heroes. The support I received from the lax community was fantastic, with donations coming from the men’s, women’s and mixed communities, and as far as Australia, Hong Kong, USA and Canada, from people I know well and people I’ve never met before. I cannot thank you all enough.
5am, 17th May, I found myself in a sea of 2099 other competitors, in the athletes area, putting the last touches to our bikes, donning the wetsuits, and contemplating what the next 17hours had in store for us. Come 7pm the cannon (yeah, they had a cannon!) went off and the sea turned into a boiling hotpot of fists and feet which you did your best to avoid for the whole 3.8km race.
1 hour and 7 min’s later, and much faster than anticipated, beating several professionals, I exited the water and made my way to transition to start the 180km ride around Lanzarote. It’s such a long distance but the truth is I remember very little of it, it was head down, grit your teeth, turn the pedals and don’t crash! The Island is notorious for the mountains and every meter of the vertical climbs had your legs screaming. However reminding yourself why you were doing this kept you pushing forward. 7 hours and 1 minute after getting on the saddle I rolled into the second transition.
The run, a marathon, 42km, 26 miles, it doesn’t matter how you tart it up; it scared the hell out of me! I not a natural runner and the cycle had caused my hip and right knee to play up. I had a plan that I would switch between run and walk to get through it, which worked for the first 16km before my body started to rebel. Thankfully the other competitors and spectators are amazing, they check up on you, they walk with you, and they make sure you keep going no matter what. By the time I got to the last 4oom the sun was setting the crowds were several rows deep, they literally cheered every last person in, and you can’t help but sprint that last bit! I crossed the finish line, 226km after starting, in 14 hours 18 min’s, slower that I had hoped for but so grateful that I had finished and that I had been able to honour all the donations made in Bobby’s memory.
My family had made the trip out and it was great to have them cross the finishing line with me. The final total raised for the charity was £2,184. HOWEVER I wasn’t alone in fundraising for Momo in May. Bobby’s brother, Thomas, and his sister Annie, both completed the Edinburgh Marathon raising £2,006 and £1,050 respectively. I’m sure the lax community will join me in congratulating the two of them on what must have been a very emotional day. If anyone is tempted to take the plunge, I cannot recommend it enough.
Watch Charlie's Challenge here: