Six dedicated people will this November be part of a Rugby League team crossing the Atlantic aiming to create a little bit of history. Many people will know of the terrible injury suffered by Matt King in his first game for the London Broncos Academy back in April 2004. If however you are unfamiliar with Matt’s story, please have a look at the ‘About Matt’ page of this website.
Since then Matt has faced many challenges, and overcome them all…
In October last year XIII Heroes, a charity supporting seriously injured rugby league players made it possible for Matt to take part in the BUPA Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon. No one with Matt’s level of injury had ever been allowed to participate in such an event, and he created a world first when he led 13 exhausted runners over the finish line.
In an attempt to go one bigger and better, Matt and XIII Heroes have aimed at the Big Apple.
The ING New York Marathon is the biggest in the world with 40,000 runners taking part. In conjunction with the Christopher Reeve Foundation, Matt’s injury being the same as that suffered by the ‘Superman’ actor, XIII Heroes is taking Matt and a team of six runners to New York to set another world first on 4th November this year.
No doubt everyone would agree that for Matt to even consider taking on such a challenge is quite amazing.
This is a huge undertaking that has required a great deal of organisation and planning, with a significant amount of fundraising required to reach the £25,000 cost of the trip.
As main team sponsor, Anglo Irish Bank has donated a substantial five figure sum towards making sure the team gets to the start line.
If you would like to sponsor Matt, simply click here to access the donations page of the XIII Heroes website. When making a donation, please add a note saying that you are sponsoring Matt and your donation will be added to his total.
The 2007 ING New York Marathon Team
• No.16 - Matt ‘Coach’ King (Langford)
• No.1 - Chris ‘Hot Pants’ Hawkins (Oldham)
• No.2 - Craig ‘Beanzie’ Drake (Bradford)
• No.3 - Paul ‘Man In The Stand’ O’Brien (Widnes)
• No.4 - Helen ‘Yorkshire Pie’ Goldthorpe (Leeds)
• No.5 - Laura ‘Mighty Quin’ Harrison (London)
• No.6 - Gina ‘Media Chick’ Coldrick (Warrington)
A few weekends ago I began my Level 1 Rugby football Union coaching qualification. The course consisted of three days of theoretical classroom work, and assessed practical sessions out on the field. On the final day there was a written exam, and I managed to pass all three elements which means I am now a qualified coach. The course itself was really interesting and enjoyable, and it means I can now coach one of the junior sides at my local rugby club.
Last week I completed my work placement at Borneo Linnell solicitors in Milton Keynes. During my time there I was fortunate enough to get a taster of a wide range of different fields including Family Law, Criminal Law, Commercial Law, and Property Law. I spent quite a lot of time observing cases in both the County Court and Magistrates Courts which gave me a great insight into how the law functions on a practical day-to-day basis. I am hoping that the experience and knowledge I have gained will help me when I begin my second year of my degree in September.
Next year at Uni I'll be studying three core modules and one option module. The core modules consist of European Law, Family Law, and Tort. (I'm not quite sure what Tort is yet but I've been told it's quite interesting). As my option module I have chosen to take part in the Law Clinic which is run from the university. The Law Clinic offers free legal advice to members of the public, so you never know, if you have a run-in with the law I may be giving you legal advice! (under the guidance of trained lawyers and solicitors).
I have just received my results for my first year studying Law at Uni.
I am absolutely over the moon to let you know that I received first class degree honours in all the subjects I took: Criminal law, Contract law, and Constitutional and Administrative Law.
I don't start my second year until the end of September, but I'm already kind of looking forward to it (does that make me extremely sad?!).
The third annual ‘Go for it’ golf challenge was held on Friday the 29th June, 2007. Miraculously, the weather gods were looking down on us, and the rain held off for most of the afternoon -- we even saw some sunshine!
The main nine hole golf competition was tightly contested, and congratulations must go to Steve Sandilands, Mike Woods, and Ivan Couchman for winning with a total of 30 -- 3 under par!
An enjoyable day was had by all, and passed by without a hitch, and this was primarily due to the hard work and organisation of all at American Kingsway Golf Centre, Paula Sarno and Chris King. Thank You!
The annual ‘Go for it’ rugby match at Old Abbottstonians rugby club was held on the 9th June. Amazingly, for the third year running we were blessed with beautiful weather which was great to the spectators, but not so great for the players!
The match between the McNeill’s Marauders and Old Abbottstonians ended in a hardfought, but comfortable victory for Old Abbottstonians.
A great day was had by all, and massive thanks must go to Dixie and all those involved in the organisation, all the players who braved the heat to play, and all those who turned up to show their support.
I have finally broken up from Uni for the summer... three month summer holiday (student life is great)! The past month has been pretty frantic revising for exams, which I finished on Monday but have to wait months to get the results. I hope to secure a few different work placements with various law firms during the summer, and get down to a few court sessions to gain experience of the whole legal system.
I have been a little slack over the past few months and haven't painted any pictures, so I plan to get a few done and try and improve a little bit (with a lot of help from my art teacher!) ... so I'll let you know how I get on.
However, bearing in mind I am a student, I plan to do a lot of what students do best, and that is be lazy, eat lots of take ways and catch up with my mates when they return from Uni!
You are invited to enter up to four players in the above 9 hole Texas Scramble being held at the American golf Kingsway facility, Melbourne, near Royston in aid of the Matt King fund on Friday 29th June 2007 at 3:00pm. It will be a shotgun start 9 hole competition for golfers of mixed and non playing abilities, followed by a BBQ, and auction. Prizes will be awarded for the various on course activities. A separate putting competition will be held, combined with champagne shooting.
Please return the booking form, together with any monies due, as soon as possible, since this will determine your playing order. Players will be seeded into teams, based on handicap, playing ability and bribery.
However, if you feel unable to play, but would nonetheless wish to participate in the event and support the fund then please still complete the booking form as appropriate and any spare spaces you have will be filled by other players already on my short list.
On the question of BBQ, there are 60 spaces for the BBQ and with a maximum of only 40 golfers, there may well be spaces available on a first-come-first-served basis to golfers who wish to invite their partners or other guests for the BBQ.
However, since I cannot accurately predict at this time how many places will finally be available, I would ask you to indicate on the booking form if you would like any BBQ spaces and these will be filled in the strict order I receive the booking forms.
Finally, I am still seeking sponsorship for competition prizes, and items for auction, as well as other elements related to the day in general. Since I am obviously trying to maximise the amount raised for the fund it would be greatly appreciated if you could help me by sponsoring one or more of the items on the attached sheet. Please bear in mind that every prize I have to purchase reduces the overall amount given to the Matt King fund.
Should you be unable to participate due to other commitments but would nonetheless wish to sponsor a prize then please complete the booking form giving your name, contact details and the particular sponsorship you would like to provide.
I thank you on behalf of the Matt King fund for your support and look forward to seeing you on the day!
As you may, or may not be aware, I am currently studying for my law degree at the University of Hertfordshire.
In January, I sat my semester A exams in each of the modules I am studying: contract law, criminal law, and Constitutional and administrative Law. I didn't have much of a Christmas holiday as I spent most of it revising through these exams, however, the hard work paid off as I got a first in each of the exams I sat!
I'm currently looking to secure a work placement during the summer holidays to gain much-needed hands on experience of the law, I will let you know how I get on...
Today I have received the last of the sponsorship for the Bupa Great North Run I did in October
£1791 has been raised for the XIII Heroes Charity
A massive thanks to everybody that contributed!
I want to keep everybody up to date with what I have been up to recently
I started Uni on the 25th of September to begin reading law. I am at the University of Hertfordshire at the St Albans campus where the Law School is situated. I am studying the course full-time which entails eight teaching hours a week consisting of lectures and seminars, but on top of that I have to do about four or five hours preparation for each module, so things are pretty manic! I am studying four modules; Constitutional and administrative Law, Law of contract, criminal law, and legal method and skills. I'm finding criminal law the toughest at the moment, however I do think it is the most interesting of all modules. I got a first in my first Constitutional and administrative Law essay last week which has given me a bit of a boost. I break up the Christmas on the 15th of December; however before then I have exams in legal method and skills. During the holidays I will be frantically revising for my first full set of exams in all my modules which are in January. These contribute to my final first-year grade, so I'm sure I will be pretty nervous. Anyway, at the moment Uni is going really well and I have met some great people.
Last Wednesday, on the 10th of November I was invited down to London with my mum and dad to attend a rugby legend's dinner to raise money for the variety club. The variety club were the charity who kindly donated half the cost of my wheelchair, so it was great to be able to help them out a bit. The main purpose of being there was to give a talk on my injury, how I have come to terms with it and how my wheelchair has given me my independence. It was a full hall, with some of the biggest names in Rugby, so I was pretty nervous about doing it but it went okay in the end. On the evening, I met Gavin Hastings, Lawrence Dallaglio, Willie John McBride, Andrew Merton's, and Gareth Edwards as well as the Duke of Edinburgh. It was a good night, although I was pretty knackered for Uni the next day!
On the first of October I competed in the great North run. Some of the pictures are on the website already, however some more will be put on soon. It was a great day, and I think as a team we raised over £10,000. We completed it in two hours 50 minutes, and by the end I was getting cramp in my neck and my chin was red raw! We started at the front of the main pack of runners, and it was a miracle that I managed to miss running anybody over, although I gave a few people some scares! On the start line I met Jimmy Saville again -- I met him quite a lot in Stoke Mandeville, and he said he remembered me but I doubt it : ( A massive thanks has to go to Chris Hawkins who helped organise it all, as well as the bunch of guys who I ran it with!
The 17th of December marks the two-year anniversary since I came out of hospital. I want to say thank you to everybody that has helped me since my accident, because if it was not for all the support given to me I do not think I would have come to terms with my injury as quickly and as much as I have done. Thank you to you all!
This weekend, in conjunction with the xiii heroes rugby league charity team Matt completed the gruelling BUPA Great North Run in 2 hours fifty minutes. It was an amazing effort from the team, not only did they have to run the distance, but keep a safety cordon of bodies between Matt and the thousands of runners who came streaming passed.
They moved slightly slower runners to one side and kicked the hundreds of bottles away from Matt’s chair.
A detailed report about the event will follow in a few days along with pictures.
Thanks to the running team, together with the backup crew behind the scenes who tied all the other stuff together to make it work.
We would also like to thank the BUPA Great North run organising team for allowing Matt to enter and supporting him so well.
Thank you.
Last weekend I was invited to the Warrington Vs St Helens Super League match along with the rest of the XIII Heroes runners, who I will be doing the Great North Run with.
Before the match we had a team photograph taken on the pitch before we did a lap around the pitch where we received a standing ovation from the crowd of 13,000. Photos of the day have been added to the photos section of the website.
As already posted on the website I will be competing in the Great North Run on the 1st October.
During my summer break I have been increasing the amount of training I have been doing in my chair, to the point where I completed just over 12 miles last Saturday. I found the distance ok, although my neck was pretty tired afterwards and I slept for most of the day and my chin was red roar for a few days after.
I’m completing my miles in just over the 11 minute mile pace, which means I should complete the course in just over two and a half hours. As a team we are hoping to raise just over 10k for the XIII Heroes charity, so if you would like to sponsor us please go to the XIII Heroes website.
I will update you all as to how I get on.
At school this year I studied History A level and Geography AS level and I managed to get straight A’s in all my exams.
This means I managed to get into university this year to study Law, which I start on the 2nd October.
The Construction Industry Rugby match at Old Abbottstonians RFC ground was a fantastic day, backed up by the large numbers that attended.
The main event of the day was the rugby match between McNeils Marauders and Grasshoppers RFC which ended in a 41 all draw!
There were a large number of stalls and attractions to keep everyone entertained, including an 8 lane Scaletrix track which saw constant use throughout the day.
The list of prizes for the auction were trully awesome, including a signed Muhamed Ali picture, signed Diago Maradona and Pele Shirts, and a Wembley seat from the '66 World Cup Final!
The auction lasted well into the night, and was followed by a trip to the clubhouse for a few 'light' refreshments.
Thankyou to everybody who helped out on the day, as well as all those involved in the organisation.
