Sir John Talbot’s School P.E Teacher Sarah Newey is training to take part in a series of exhaustive challenges in order to push her physical and mental limits, whilst raising money for the charity Combat Stress UK.
The leading mental health charity for veterans Combat Stress UK assists former servicemen and women, their families and their children when dealing with trauma-related mental health problems such as: anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Combat Stress UK is a charity very close to Sarah’s heart having been in the army for six years prior to joining Sir John Talbot’s School. The P.E teacher has seen the fantastic help and support the charity has given to family and friends whilst they transitioned between military and civilian life.
Throughout June and July in what Sarah is calling her ‘Silly Summer’ she will embark on a number of challenges to raise money for the charity, all over the course of 5 weeks. These include a ‘swimrun’, which encompasses a 20km course made up of four swims and four runs up, down and around Snowdon. To make things just a bit more challenging the event encourages participants to run in their swim kit and swim in their running kit. Sarah then plans to take part in a 24 hour 10K, where she will aim to run as many laps of a 10k course that can be completed in 24 hours, she hopes to achieve a minimum of 100km. Sarah will then embark in the Bolton Ironman, the event incorporates a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon all in one go! Despite having a terrible fear of heights, Sarah is then hoping to overcome her fear by skydiving with The Red Devils.
To mentally and physically prepare for the tests ahead, Sarah is currently undergoing a gruelling training schedule working out for 20 hours a week, whilst juggling her busy job as a P.E teacher. As part of her training over March and through April, she will run the Shrewsbury 10k and the Sir John Talbot’s Whitchurch 10k. Before embarking on her inspiring list of challenges, Sarah has been no stranger to pushing herself having previously completed a number of runs for charity including the London Marathon. A hard enough challenge in itself but Sarah pushed herself further physically and ran it in full military kit with a 15kg bergan on her back. In addition, she has previously taken part in a 1000 mile challenge, completing 82 obstacle races over the course of a year and raising over £6500 for charity. These smaller challenges as she modestly calls them have made her really want to push her boundaries further. Ironman is seen as the pinnacle of physical challenges and therefore she hopes it will be a true test of her endurance.
Sarah Newey, P.E teacher at Sir John Talbot’s School said: “As part of my job I am always trying to encourage students to push themselves and give every experience they face their all. These challenges will push me beyond my limits and allow me to test where my physical and mental boundaries are, whilst allowing me to raise awareness and funds for Combat Stress UK, a charity close to my heart”.
Sarah aspires to raise £500 for Combat Stress UK and has set up a Just Giving page to help raise donations. If you would like to show your support for this inspirational story, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/snewey87 or text PTSD80 to 70070.
