Andy Hill is a month away from the biggest challenge of his life – and now he needs the support of the NCE Soccer family.
On Sunday the 5th of November NCE Soccer’s New York Metro Regional Director will join almost 50,000 other runners to take on the New York City marathon.
He is not thinking about Geoffrey Mute’s 2011 course record of 2:05:06 or the $100,000 first prize!
Instead, Coach Hill will be thinking about the youngsters of New York who may benefit from his fundraising efforts for Team for Kids and simply getting the job done.
He won’t be alone as hundreds of other runners race for Team for Kids, an incredible charity which has raised more than £100 million since its launch in 2002.
“It will be biggest challenge of my life for sure,” Andy explained.
“I’ve been inspired by watching friends and family run the race in the past, I decided this was something I wanted to achieve for myself, to be able to look at the race in years to come and say ‘I did that’.
“I will be running the race for New York Road Runners, Team for Kids. It is a remarkable charity and one that hits close to home.
“For 20 years, Team for Kids has been raising money nationwide, including the five boroughs of NY, to give under-privileged children access to youth sports and exercise.
“They have raised over $100 million to help fund youth events, school-based programs and digital resources to allow access to exercise and the opportunity to play sports.
“For many of these kids, this is the only opportunity they get to attend such programs and these activities keep them off the streets and in structured, supervised exercise.
“Team for Kids keeps kids healthy, safe and gives them experiences they wouldn’t always get.
“For someone who has spent pretty much all my career dedicating my time to working with young children, I am in awe of the work, effort and commitment that Team for Kids puts into benefitting young people.
“I have always been very passionate about youth sports, health and wellbeing in young children, and giving kids the opportunities achieve whatever they want.”
Andy has never ran a marathon before and, for the record, has no particular desire to run another in the future.
And if it you are only ever to do one you might as well choose the biggest of the them all, and run with the backing of the two million spectators expected to line the streets.
He certainly won’t need a map to get round as he runs past venues in the five boroughs where NCE Soccer provide elite supplementary soccer coaching programs.
Andy, added: “I had a friend run a few years ago and I was interested then, and then last year some family and a couple more friends ran and I just got it in my head that I wanted to achieve it.
“The appeal of the NYC marathon was a huge part, running over the verrazano bridge and through the streets of Manhattan seemed pretty cool and definitely a bucket list item.
“This is my first and probably my last! ha ha. I would love to do it in under 5 hours but to be honest I’ll be absolutely ecstatic just to finish it.
“I’m following a progressive training plan, supplied by NYRR for a ‘casual marathon runner’. It is an 18 week program that has a bunch of small training runs during the weeks and then a long run on a weekend.
“The long runs get progressively longer. My longest will be 20 miles, which I will do three times. You never actually do the full Marathon distance in training. I’m also doing some strength training and yoga during September and October to help my muscles get ready for the big day.
“I wanted to support a New York based charity and because this one was tied to New York Road Runners (NYRR) (who organize the race) there was a really good support network and training resources available so that was a massive help but I am very happy to run for a very worthy cause that is doing so much good for the young population of NYC.
“It is a charity that aligns with my values and what I have spent most my career doing which is, in some way or form, helping kids achieve their goals and aspirations.
“It will be great to run past some of the venues we coach in, especially in Brooklyn as the course goes through sunset park and right past Washington park where we did Summer COE.
“It would be great if any of the NCE Soccer family has a spare minute to come and cheer me on. I’m going to need all the support I can get!”
You can support Andy by cheering him on as he runs the course on the day but also by donating to his Just Giving Page via this link: https://www.runwithtfk.org/Profile/PublicPage/99178/57917
* Find out more about soccer coaching in New York and NCE Soccer’s range of programming by clicking this link.