Stuart Bates and Charlotte Nichols were not able to set off at an alarming pace for the Dorset marathon on Sunday. However, they have a very good excuse.
The 26-mile, running course that started and finished on Weymouth Beach was the 101st Olympic event they have completed in the last 17 days.
They sustained blisters, bruises as well as exhaustion running, swimming, and riding their way across England.
Bates, a 51-year old window cleaner from Weymouth admitted to feeling “broken” after the challenge. Nichols 21, a Bristol University medical student, said that she felt fine until they rested. “Then everything stiffens.”
There were many moments of difficulty along the way. Nichols was almost forced to quit windsurfing because of her fishphobia. Bates fell from a horse while participating in cross-country.
They weren’t as graceful in artistic gymnastics and they were a lot less confident on skateboards than the real Olympians.
But all of it was done in the name of a very noble cause. The challenge is to remember Spencer Bates (also known as Spenny), who died from motor neurone Disease 10 years ago. Fundraising money for MNDA – the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Nichols said that “the idea was for the anniversary to be marked in a positive and raise some funds.” We’re huge Olympic fans, so we thought it would be fun to try all the events that were held during the Tokyo Games.
Bates loves playing football, and Nichols is a rugby player. But they are far away from being elite athletes. They put their bodies through lockdown and began training for the Spennylympics, a 234km cycling-road race. Nichols admitted that the start was difficult. “We were still going at 10:30pm. Everything hurt. It was not only our legs that were hurting, but our hands and fingers as well. I had a little cry.”
Nichols’ most alarming moment was when Bates fell off a horse. Nichols stated, “It was entertaining and slightly scary.”
It was during windsurfing that the trout appeared and she had to rescue her. “That was traumatizing. “But we have enjoyed everything. The shooting was amazing and the trampolining/climbing were fantastic.”
There have been many glorious moments. Bates stated, “We rowed with an eight. Both of us hadn’t rowed before. We weren’t great, but we did manage to be in sync for a few seconds with the other eight. It felt effortless. The sun was just setting on the Thames, and it was breathtaking.
Bates loved boxing. “I ended fighting a semi-professional, who hadn’t lost in more that 30 fights and who was four stone heavier than myself. I got battered. “My brother would have loved this.”
The pair could be seen surfing at The Wave Lake near Bristol, before heading to Team Bath Sports Training Village. There they would compete in the modern pentathlon. This was just minutes after Kate French arrived at the training facility having won Olympic gold in Tokyo. On Saturday, the pair sailed, played beach volleyball and played football. The marathon came next.
Spenny’s memory has kept the couple together. Bates shared, “It is so painful to watch someone you care about living with motor neurone syndrome.” “I still think about him everyday.”
There have been dozens of clubs that have provided equipment and training for the couple, and hundreds have shown their support by coming out to cheer them on. The University of Bristol offered them free use of its facilities and professional help from their performance coach.
They were not in peak physical condition when they finished the race. Bates said that they had blisters after blisters and bruises after bruises. “But we wanted it to end with an explosion. It would have felt like an anticlimax had we finished with table tennis. We have always believed that, no matter how bad we felt, if it was possible to get to the end of the day, we would finish it.