University's Top Sports Experts Help Charity Runners

To help them prepare, they will be meeting with experts at one of the country's leading centres for sporting advice and testing. On February 7, Jackie Dabinett, sports lecturer, Olympic athlete coaching and national level marathon runner, and Bridgitte Swales, international triathlon coach and physiology lecturer, will hold a master class for the runners.

Jackie, who is also an adviser to Sport England and Director of the University's Sports Performance Assessment and Research Centre (SPARC) said: 'This is a chance for first time runners to pick up some top tips from the experts and for those with experience to find out how to improve their performance.'

Jackie and Bridgitte will spend the evening at SPARC's state of the art labs discussing training, nutrition and performance. 'Anything they want to know about the run, we'll be on hand to answer.'

Many of the larger charities entering runners for the Marathon offer full training and preparation programmes - an impossibility for a small charity such as the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. 'SPARC's help is very welcome and will make all the difference for our runners. We have a team of over fourteen runners this year and they are all training hard and looking forward to getting some advice from the experts', said Claire Walker, Community Fundraiser for the Hospice.

The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice serves patients from West Surrey and North and Mid Hampshire suffering with life-limiting illnesses and receives very little government support. Events such as the Marathon provide a much needed source of income for this local charity.

ANYONE INTERESTED IN RUNNING FOR THE HOSPICE SHOULD
Contact: Claire Walker

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