While we’re all stuck in lockdown for the foreseeable future, young showjumper Olli Fletcher has put all his unexpected spare time to excellent use in a bid to raise thousands of pounds for World Horse Welfare.
The 17-year-old would normally be out competing on a regular basis at this time of year — and was due to be heading abroad this month — but now the keen runner has decided to ramp up his training regime and has set himself an impressive challenge to run his first ever half-marathon (just over 21 km or 13 miles) on 1 February, in the countryside near his Oxfordshire home.
“I’ve always wanted to do a marathon — I like running and at shows I go running nearly every day,” Olli told H&H.
“But as I don’t have too much to do at the moment, I thought now would be a really good time to start.”
Olli has gradually upped his training to meet his goal of running a half-marathon and says he is loving swapping riding boots for his runing shoes.
“Sometimes I would set off to run one block round where I live and end up running round three times — I just keep on going!” he says.
“I have my music on and it just frees your mind a bit. I feel great after, too, so I’m sure it’s all beneficial.”
Olli has set up a JustGiving page where people can donate and he is already halfway towards his target of raising £2,000 for and awareness of World Horse Welfare.
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“I did 18km earlier this week, so it feels as if it is going OK so far,” he said. “So I could nearly do it tomorrow but hopefully there’s still enough time to raise a bit more money.
“It’s a charity that means a lot to me — horses put their heart and soul into what they do for us and expect nothing in return so I thought it would be nice to try to give them something back.”
Next stop, the London Marathon? Just keep on running Olli!
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