Mechanic’s higher gear for charity
AMECHANIC is spending his weekends running marathons in memory of his mother, while working full time and caring for his disabled wife.
Toby Hellman, 55, from Tregaron, Ceredigion, transformed his life after his mother Jane’s terminal cancer diagnosis.
Before she died in 2016, Toby decided he wanted to start raising money to pay tribute to those who cared for her during her illness.
The first challenge was nine sporting events in nine months, but that was just the beginning.
Since then, he has competed in the likes of Brutal Triathlon, Jurassic Man and is now attempting to complete DecaUK in July.
The toughest challenge of his life will see him take on a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run every day for 10 days.
Toby said he has never done anything this extreme before, and it will test him to and beyond his limits.
He trains every day and runs a marathon practically every weekend to prepare, balancing that with caring for his wife and his full-time job.
When asked what inspired him to take on the fitness challenges, Toby said: “The aim was to just raise money and awareness about Cancer Research Wales.
“That’s why I basically started to do the nine events in nine months. At the time I thought it was really hard, but a few years later, it’s not a lot for me.
“I think it’s just me. You complete one challenge and you want to do more and more – doing it for charity just gives more purpose to it.”
But Toby wasn’t always as into sport as he is now. In fact, when he was at school, he really hated it. He said he’s never really been one for group events, but likes participating in individual events.
For him, running is not about speed and his weekly marathons are at a steady pace.
When asked what his mum would think of him competing in the great challenges, he added: “She would be proud. I have always been active. In school I wasn’t sporty. I absolutely detested sports at school.
“When I was in the RAF I got into running. Then I left the RAF and drank and smoked, and spent a lot of time in pubs.”
Speaking about smoking, he said: “I gave up probably eight or nine years ago, and I have asthma.
“I’m going to keep going until I can’t progress anymore. It gets bigger and bigger.”
When asked if he thinks he’ll take on any more challenges after this one, he said: “I’m not worried about that. This is my biggest event. I’m not thinking: ‘will I do any more?’ I’m not thinking about that at the moment.
“It’s like someone who sits on the couch and aims to do the 5k – they work for the 5k and that’s brilliant. It just builds up. I just want to raise awareness, and raise more money for Cancer Research Wales more than anything else.”
To sponsor Toby and make a donation to Cancer Research Wales, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/ tobyhellman-deca