A British couple are completing every single Olympic event in 17 days for charity

Stuart Bates and Charlotte Nichols of the U.K. have set out to complete every single Olympic event over the 17 days the Games are taking place in Tokyo. They’re taking on this challenge to raise money for the Motor Neuron Disease Association (MNDA), and are calling it the “Spennylympics” in honor of Bates’ brother, Spencer (a.k.a. Spenny), who passed away from motor neuron disease

In order to complete this formidable challenge, Bates and Nichols will have to complete 96 events in 17 days, including the marathon, 10K swim and the 234K cycling road race. They’ll even be putting together a synchronized swimming routine — and we thought Sifan Hassan’s competition schedule was grueling!

Bates and Nichols share on their website that they were both excited and terrified to begin the challenge. “We share a passion for all sports and are by nature hugely competitive people (without the fitness or expertise to back it up!),” they add. “Although we have both previously completed fundraising events they have been nothing quite like the scale or magnitude of the Spennylympics.”

Their motivation, of course, is to raise as much money as possible for the MNDA, and they continue to say that the pain and sacrifice they will experience over these 17 days will pale in comparison to what those living with motor neuron disease experience on a daily basis. Still, the pain they’ve experienced during some of the events, notably the 50Km race walk, has been significant.

With only four days left in these Olympics Games, the pair have less than 10 events to go in order to complete the challenge. While they are close to the end, they’ve saved the marathon for last, which will be a monster hurdle to get over before officially finishing the Spennylympics. To keep up with their efforts, follow them on Twitter (@spennylympics) and Instagram, and if you’d like to support their cause, head over to their website to donate.

posted Saturday August 7th
by Running Magazine