A FORMER Bangor rugby player will be taking part in an off-road marathon this Saturday to raise money for the Ulster Hospital’s neonatal bereavement suite on the sixth anniversary of his daughter’s death.
Philip Whyte, the coach and a former prop for the Bangor club ,has raised over £2,000 so far but is hoping to go further to remember his daughter Sophie, who was stillborn and died on November 8, 2019.
Philip said he has been training for some time for the Tollymore Trail Marathon and wants to raise money for the unit for the fantastic support the staff offered after the loss.
He said: “It’s quite a specialised unit up there. They looked after us in 2019 when we lost Sophie at 37 weeks, as a stillbirth.
“We’ve raised money for the unit in the past, through Bangor Rugby Club and through the club we would do a lot of charity work. For last year’s Topless Carols we raised some money for the unit.
“This Saturday on the day of the marathon will also be the sixth year anniversary [for Sophie], so I just decided I’m going to do something just myself and raise the funds for it. It’s an off-road marathon and has lots of elevation.”
The former prop said the training has been made harder due to having to overcome injuries he picked up whilst playing the sport. But Philip said after getting into running he has surprisingly found it easier on his past injuries than when he began training.
“It’s about 900 metres of elevation,” he said. “The training for it has been very, very difficult, but I must say you get out of it what you put into it. I have put in a lot of work and I never thought I could probably get to where I am now in terms of being ready to go.”
“I feel like I’m ready for this Saturday,” he continued. “But it has been very, very difficult with the training and then also coupled with me being heavier than the average man – I’ve probably put on weight from running itself, and I don’t know how that’s possible.
“I’ve had a fair share of injuries as well, and that’s what’s made me retire from rugby. I had to have both my knees operated on, and then two years ago, I had my quad repaired, re-attached to my knee, and three years before that, I had my left knee reconstructed with all the ligaments, so it has been a mental challenge, especially with trying to carry those two issues as well.
“With my knees, I would say initially as I was starting out, they were sore, but now that I’ve done maybe 700/800 kilometers, my knees feel absolutely great, which is good, so it’s psychological just for this weekend.”
Through months of preparation, Philip says he knows his limits but will be aiming to finish the marathon in his own time.
“I know my limits,” he said. “I’ve been running a lot of the trails and looking after my heart rate and running with lighter guys that are probably three or four stone lighter than me. I’m running a completely different race to them this Saturday compared to the guys that are used to this, so I’m just going to do it at my own pace.”
“The original target was £1,500 and it got to over £2,000 maybe a week ago, so I might even set it at £2,500 because anything’s beneficial to those guys at the unit.
“They, like many other units at the hospital, need the funding and going out and doing something like this is hugely beneficial to them and I hope we can make a difference to them on Saturday.”
To donate to Philip’s campaign, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/philip-whyte
