Staff member at Coleg Menai completes a series of challenges to fundraise for charities
A member of staff at Coleg Menai has raised thousands of pounds for several charities after completing a series of challenges, following his daughter’s successful battle with cancer.
Keen runner Tony Fitzmaurice, a Work-based Learning assessor within the college’s Hospitality & Catering department, successfully took on many athletic challenges.
Back in 2019, Maisy - Tony's 10-year-old daughter was diagnosed with stage four Ovarian Germ Cell Cancer. Months of chemotherapy and several operations later, Maisy thankfully beat the odds and was given the all clear!
Tony explained: “During her sickness, many charities, foundations and people helped out with a number of different things to make our life easier. I made a promise to myself that I would do some kind of fundraising for the charities and foundations that helped Maisy out.”
Two of Tony’s most recent challenges involved completing the Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge and the Anglesey Half Marathon, over the same weekend!.The Goggins challenge involves running four miles, every four hours, for 48 hours.
He said: “After finishing work on Friday 4 March, I started the first leg of the Goggins Challenge and ran 4.4 miles every 4 hours, not stopping until 4am on Sunday morning. I then went to Menai Bridge to run the half marathon. All of this was done after roughly two hours of sleep.”
Tony started fundraising back in March 2021 when he completed his first Goggins Challenge, raising £2,600 for Cancer Research. He then went on to complete the Liverpool Marathon, raising £920 for the Owen McVeigh Foundation. His latest challenge raised over £560 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. So, he has raised over £4,000 for different charities since last March.
When asked how he felt after completing his latest challenge, Tony said: ‘I've never been so physically and emotionally drained and I was in some tough situations whilst in the forces. But in my mind I kept thinking about why I was doing the challenge and I was saying to myself, ‘you don't know what you are capable of until you push yourself past what you think are your limits’.”
Tony also took on his own personal challenge back in 2020. Following the lockdown announcement, he started to enjoy walking more, which eventually turned into a passion for running. This helped him to lose six stones and reverse his diabetes.
Following his new found love of running, he explained: “It was from that point I knew I was in a place where I could start doing challenges to raise money for as many charities/ foundations that helped during Maisy's illness.”
He isn’t resting for long, as Tony is already brainstorming ideas for his next fundraising challenge.
Keen runner Tony Fitzmaurice, a Work-based Learning assessor within the college’s Hospitality & Catering department, successfully took on many athletic challenges.
Back in 2019, Maisy - Tony's 10-year-old daughter was diagnosed with stage four Ovarian Germ Cell Cancer. Months of chemotherapy and several operations later, Maisy thankfully beat the odds and was given the all clear!
Tony explained: “During her sickness, many charities, foundations and people helped out with a number of different things to make our life easier. I made a promise to myself that I would do some kind of fundraising for the charities and foundations that helped Maisy out.”
Two of Tony’s most recent challenges involved completing the Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge and the Anglesey Half Marathon, over the same weekend!.The Goggins challenge involves running four miles, every four hours, for 48 hours.
He said: “After finishing work on Friday 4 March, I started the first leg of the Goggins Challenge and ran 4.4 miles every 4 hours, not stopping until 4am on Sunday morning. I then went to Menai Bridge to run the half marathon. All of this was done after roughly two hours of sleep.”
Tony started fundraising back in March 2021 when he completed his first Goggins Challenge, raising £2,600 for Cancer Research. He then went on to complete the Liverpool Marathon, raising £920 for the Owen McVeigh Foundation. His latest challenge raised over £560 for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. So, he has raised over £4,000 for different charities since last March.
When asked how he felt after completing his latest challenge, Tony said: ‘I've never been so physically and emotionally drained and I was in some tough situations whilst in the forces. But in my mind I kept thinking about why I was doing the challenge and I was saying to myself, ‘you don't know what you are capable of until you push yourself past what you think are your limits’.”
Tony also took on his own personal challenge back in 2020. Following the lockdown announcement, he started to enjoy walking more, which eventually turned into a passion for running. This helped him to lose six stones and reverse his diabetes.
Following his new found love of running, he explained: “It was from that point I knew I was in a place where I could start doing challenges to raise money for as many charities/ foundations that helped during Maisy's illness.”
He isn’t resting for long, as Tony is already brainstorming ideas for his next fundraising challenge.
