Hi my name is Maddie and I am 11 years old. I love sport, but my passion is gymastics, which during COVID has been a tricky sport to continue.

So what am I doing? I am going to run a marathon a week (26 miles) for the last 4 weeks of lockdown 3.0. From Monday the 18th January I will be running 4 miles each day, Monday through to Friday, have a day off on Saturday and then run 6 miles on a Sunday - finishing my challenge on Sunday 14th February. My parents are critical workers so I am presently at school during lockdown 3.0, so most of my miles will be at the end of my school days. By the end of my challenge I will have run 104 miles come rain or shine!

Why am I doing it? My gymnastics club is Falcons Gymnastics Academy and just before lockdown 1.0 we discovered a problem with our foam pit. The problem meant that lots of our foam was destroyed and this has meant our pit has not been able to be used fully during our brief episodes of returning to gym. Due to COVID19 we are not able to be touched by our coaches when supporting us with new skills. The pit is therefore a vital piece of equipment in helping me and my many gym friends return to the club and be able to safely relearn and then prepare/practise new skills. Unlike other sports artistic gymnastics is tricky and unsafe to continue at home. We do not have beams, bars, vaults and sprung floors in our bedrooms to enable us to fully train in the sport we love so much - so the better the facilities on our return the more likely we are to get back to the levels we know we can achieve. Falcons is also a not for profit organisation and the lack of paid fees due to our absence has also had a significant impact on how the club will be sustained and be able to move forward post COVID. So, if you are able to support me on my running journey by donating any amount, big or small I would be very, very grateful.

You can follow my journey on the Falcons Gymnastics Academy’s Instagram and Facebook pages, where I will provide mini updates.

Thank you in advance for all of your support.