Rising start Jamal-Marcus Rhoden-Stevens is what you may call a late-bloomer. Though he is best known on the athletics circuit as a nippy 400m runner, he actually participated in several sports before taking up sprinting full time. For a while, Rhoden-Stevens played semi-professional football for Welling FC. He suddenly concluded his career in favour of athletics and become a competitive long jumper. However, it was the sprinting practice which he found the most enjoyable, so at the age of 18-going-on-19 he found his calling. Now, Rhoden-Stevens boasts a 46.54s 400m personal best.

More often than not, athletics stars begin their track career early on in their teenage years. Other famed 400m runners such as Martyn Rooney and Christine Ohuruogu competed as juniors, participating in events such as the London Youth Games, the European Junior Championships and the Junior World Championships, however this was not the case for Rhoden-Stevens. This is certainly not to say that he is any less prepared for success. 100m athlete Adam Gemili also began sprinting full-time at the age of 19, and has since gone on to win multiple international medals.

The decision to take a leap of faith into the unknown is an admirable move by Rhoden-Stevens, as there is never a guarantee that the move will pay off. Rhoden-Stevens considers this his mindset though: he is a self-proclaimed go-getter, glass-half-full kind of athlete. The question of how he will achieve greatness comes after his decision to fully pursue it.  Currently, Rhoden-Stevens is located at a warm weather training camp in Jamaica in order to gain new perspectives and get outside of the London bubble. His sudden decision to go to Jamaica was another one of Rhoden-Steven’s moves to push himself further: “I don’t think of how, I just think ‘I’m going to do this’. To people it’s a bit like ‘what is this guy talking about?’ But for me, that’s my mindset. That’s how I stay positive. I keep on dreaming because if I stop thinking about possibilities, then I’ll probably just quit.”

Rather than viewing his ability to sprint as a gift, Rhoden-Stevens views his venture into sprinting as a great opportunity. Knowing that time is very rarely on the athlete’s side, he is hyper-aware that he needs to make his time count as an up-and-coming elite athlete. “I always think to myself…you have a small window [for] doing something in your life. After  that, you are growing up again, getting older, and you just don’t want to live with any regrets. I always think to myself ‘Okay, I’ve got [an] opportunity to be good at a sport or an opportunity to be good at whatever I’m doing. Make it count.” Knowing that he has explored his options, even if they did not work out Rhoden-Stevens suggests he is content with knowing he gave sprinting his all: “You can be one injury away from never running again. Hopefully that never happens to anyone, but it has happened to people and of course nothing is guaranteed in life…You just have to take the opportunity”.

Rhoden-Stevens partly attributes his positivity to his faith (and is quick to comment that the answer is seen as a bit of a cliché), but also the people who are close to him: “It’s the people that are close [to you] that keep me having possibilities in my head because I’m a dreamer. I’m a person that’s optimistic…I see someone do something and I’m like ‘I can do that!’”. Rhoden-Stevens has even viewed the global pandemic as a window of opportunity. His routine was “switched up” as he couldn’t train on a racetrack for a long time and the racing calendar was uncertain, therefore he began completing weight training at home and running on grass with friends: “Having them with me and doing sessions was really good and really uplifted me”. Rhoden-Stevens even found his lockdown training fun, as he discovered new methods of training which allowed him to “just be able to run…to do something that was good for me”. Learning how to be patient was another new found virtue for the athlete. Although he may choose to practice patience more often now there is no doubt that he is still eager to get racing again with a bid for the 2021 Olympics still on the cards.

On Friday 4 December, wounded veteran Darren Hardy, 35,  will attempt a world first – to complete an entire duathlon (10km run, 150k cycle, 30k run) all at a simulated height of 12,000ft, which is the equivalent of 3 times the hight of Ben Nevis, the UK’s tallest mountain.

He will achieve this by doing the challenge at the Altitude Centre London where he will wear a mask that will restrict his oxygen to 60% of what we usually breathe (12.5% oxygen versus 21% oxygen in ‘normal’ air) to replicate the thin air conditions that mountaineers experience at altitude.

At an equivalent height of over 3,600m, this is when people need oxygen to sky dive, and it’s 3,000ft higher than when altitude sickness can kick in, causing dizziness, tiredness, sickness and loss of appetite.  The event is expected to take him approximately 12 hours.

Darren served 15 years in the British Army. As an athlete he became a Physical Training Instructor which led to his selection for officer training at Sandhurst. He subsequently took his troops all over the world, often in life-threatening and extremely testing environments. Three years ago his career was brought to an end as a result of physical and mental injuries suffered during the Iraq war. He has subsequently been diagnosed with PTSD and has a permanent shoulder injury that impacts his physically on a day to day basis.

For his recovery, Darren has had to focus on becoming mentally resilient to match his physical strength and work on coping strategies for his PTSD. Sport and training have become key for both his physical and mental wellbeing and he has represented the UK at the Warrior Games where he was a Gold Medallist and record breaker in the 100m and 200m sprint.

However, rather than taking part in other events, Darren is now creating his own extreme endurance challenges to push himself physically and mentally, writing is own blueprint to what the body and mind can do. These are his way of managing his PTSD, giving himself something to focus on to the exclusion of detrimental thoughts.

This event is taking place just over a month since his major challenge when he completed 6.5 Ironman distance triathlons (3.9k swim, 180k cycle and 42.4k run) in 10 consecutive days at different locations around the UK – with the last triathlon taking place in a London Eye pod, making it the longest endurance event ever in the London Eye.

Darren says, “I still have aches and pains from my last event, but I’m itching to get going on another ‘World First’. The pandemic has made me get creative with how I can push my body and mind, so if I can’t travel to any mountains they can come to me! An extreme altitude challenge is a way to really stretch my endurance and see what is possible. And if I can inspire just one other wounded veteran who is struggling, to put on their running shoes or jump on a bike and see how much better that can make them feel, I will be happy.”

Beth Miles, Fundraising, Marketing and Communications Director for Help for Heroes, comments, “With most of our planned fundraising events being cancelled or postponed since April as a result of the coronavirus, we are experiencing a 30% drop in our regular income which is really tough. At the same time, we have seen a 33% increase in new people coming forward for support with their mental health, so the need is growing. That’s why we cannot thank Darren enough for his incredible dedication to the cause – doing not one, but three, eye-watering challenges to raise funds for us. He is a total legend!”

In August, Darren was also the first person to paddleboard 112k, cycle 779k and run 42k, travelling 933k in total from Inverness to Help for Heroes’ Tin Hut, the building where the charity set up 13 years ago to raise funds for veterans that have been physically or mentally wounded as a result of their military service – and also to support their families.

To donate, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/darren-hardy7.

Media contact: Susan Perolls | Fundraising PR Manager | Help for Heroes

M 07483 044102 | susan.perolls@helpforheroes.org.uk

About Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes supports those with injuries and illnesses sustained during or attributable to their service in the British Armed Forces, and their families. No matter when someone served, Help for Heroes believes that those prepared to put their lives second, deserve a second chance at life. Every course and activity the charity offers aims to empower them to look beyond illness and injury, regain their purpose, reach their potential and have a positive impact on society. Only 3% of Help for Heroes income comes from the government, so the charity relies on the UK public to help raise the money needed to support wounded and injured veterans. For more information, visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk.

Preparing for success and overcoming setbacks is a common challenge in many elite athlete’s careers.

Adam Burgess began canoe slalom at the tender age of ten at his local club Stafford & Stone CC and it wasn’t long before he knew that he wanted to continue the sport to its highest level. He represented GB at the age of 14, and at the age of 16 he moved to Nottingham to train full-time at the white-water centre. Fast forward a few years, Burgess completed his studies and moved to train at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, London. Despite high rankings throughout his junior career and a “breakthrough” year which saw Burgess 5th at U23 World Championships and 4th at his first Senior World Cup, 2013 threw a curveball.

“It has been a journey…” Burgess notes, “I fully believe I would not be where I am today though without the setbacks, they can be our biggest lessons”.

Burgess suffered a stress fracture to his lumbar spine that forced him out of the boat completely for six months, making his return in 2014 somewhat of a steep learning curve: “My doubles career (C2) was going well, we were already competing at senior level, but C1 has always been my passion and I was feeling a bit forgotten by the national federation. I made the final at U23 World Championships again that year but messed up the end of my run and finished in 9^th.”

Nonetheless, Burgess’s luck began to change when he moved to London and met a new coach from Spain. The following season he made the senior team for first time, won gold at the U23 World Championships in Brazil, and made the final at the Senior World Championships. In 2016 Burgess became a regular finalist on the senior circuit, made the overall World Cup podium, and broke into the top 10 World Rankings. The successful streak was soon broken however, with Burgess’ following seasons plagued by a shoulder injury.

Rather than focus on the negative Burgess decided that it was time for change. With the help of a close support team he finally found how to keep himself fit enough for consistent results at a high level, and he bases this on both an individualised programme and outlook – “2019 was a year never to forget. The mentality shift simply would not have happened had I not experienced the setbacks.”

The shift is what allowed Burgess to bring his A-game to the Olympic trials. With only one place up for grabs the field was extremely competitive, especially as he was pitted against his own friends which caused some “conflicting” feelings surrounding the achievement of his dreams. “I told my support team in a planning meeting and I could tell that they believed it too” Burgess explains. “On paper I was probably the underdog, but we knew how affected by injury my past two seasons had been. We believed that keeping continuity of training was the key for me. The more people I told about my vision though the more my confidence grew. It was the look in their eyes as I told them, I knew that they believed it too.”

A key part of Burgess’ mentality shift was his ability to make decisions under pressure, staying calm and collected in the face of victory. He claims that in previous competitions he has suffered from “paralysis by analysis”, overcomplicating his race plan and wasting precious mental energy. Now, he relies on “instincts and responsible planning”, meaning that “when the stakes are high, rather than nervously try to figure out a solution to the puzzle [I] focus on something simple” and then lets the instinctual canoeist he has become to take the blows the course delivers.

Burgess also accredits yoga and exposure training to his ability to keep his cool. Effective breathing and overcoming the mind by taking the plunge in an ice bath gives him not only confidence, but a feeling of ultimate strength. Additionally, he aims “to pursue optimal preparation and recovery strategies relentlessly”, meaning napping after training sessions is a high priority “not only to help the body recover but to create stronger neural pathways and embed learning”.

2021 is set to be a big year for Burgess. Due to the Tokyo Olympics being pushed to 2021 Burgess will have the opportunity to compete in both the World Championships and Olympics with only months between the two. The circumstances are unique yet also challenging, so the bar is “set as high as it can [be]”. Burgess’ attitude towards the potential bumper-crop year of 2021 is one of composure and ambition. “We must dream big” he writes, “the focus though is about getting to those start-lines in the best physical, mental, and technical shape I can be to produce a performance.”

He describes the goals he has set for himself as “big”, “scary” and “exciting”, but also admits that his Olympic dreams are what get him “out of bed to train on a cold morning”. The setbacks have only made Adam Burgess and his team stronger. The stakes are high but the fire remains stoked.