Charity Ironman challenge awaits Perse teacher
Perse teacher Sam Patterson will be pushing herself to the limit this weekend by taking part in an Ironman event to raise funds for the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF).
The physics teacher will be taking on the gruelling Ironman Italy, featuring a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and marathon-distance run, on Saturday in memory of her son Alex, who died of meningitis 10 years ago.
Having smashed her original target of raising £500 for MRF, she now hopes to hit the £1,000 mark, when she competes at the event in Cervia, a seaside resort on Italy’s Adriatic coast.
Mrs Patterson said: “I’ve done quite a lot of challenges before, such as triathlons and marathons, but given it’s such a significant year personally, I wanted to do something that really pushed me out of my comfort zone.”
She has been training hard for the Ironman, with regular swim sessions at the Perse Sports Centre, as well as Jesus Green Lido to acclimatise to outdoor swimming.
In addition, Mrs Patterson took advantage of the summer holidays to do three long bike rides and three running sessions each week as she aims to complete the epic distance within the 16-hour deadline.
“It’s been quite a big undertaking,” she said. “A lot of my time has been spent on the bike because that’s such a big chunk of the event and – I expect to be riding for seven hours on the day – so just building up that time in the saddle has been important.
“I’ve also done some brick sessions, which is bike ride followed immediately by a run, which gets you used to running with your legs feeling like jelly!
“For me, the running is going to be the hardest part. I have a long-standing injury which running isn’t compatible with, so I’d like to get the swim and bike out of the way as quickly as possible to give me more time in case I have to walk rather than run.
“Doing an Ironman has been on my bucket list and I’m looking forward to completing the challenge, but on the day itself it’s going to be brutal and there’s an element of trepidation about it.”
As well as raising funds, Mrs Patterson is also an ambassador for MRF and talks at events on behalf of the charity to raise awareness of the disease and its symptoms.
She said: “Meningitis is indiscriminate in terms of who can catch it. For example, I’ve talked to students at freshers’ fairs because particularly in young adults it’s difficult to spot as the early stages resemble a hangover, such as headaches, nausea and not looking at bright lights. I want to make sure people don’t dismiss the symptoms and that they look out for each other.
“We’re really lucky we’ve had a good vaccination programme for babies since 2015, but there is also a vaccination programme for the ACWY strain for teenagers, so I’d just encourage them to have the vaccine before going off to university as it does dramatically reduce the risk.”
As for ensuring she makes it to the finish line in time, Mrs Patterson said: “I’m very stubborn, so I’ll just put one foot in front of the other and I’ll get there, but knowing how much money I’ve raised and how so many people have supported me will give me a huge boost come the weekend.”
To donate to Mrs Patterson’s Ironman challenge appeal, please click here.
For more information on MRF, please click here.