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From the Reverend Kate Bottley:

When it comes to sport I am nothing if not consistent. Consistently last, last pick for the team in PE at school, last in cross country, last out of the changing rooms at hockey, in fact the only thing I was ever first for was the queue for the orange segments at half time. So, when the call came in for the ‘Give it a Tri’ sport relief challenge, you could be for forgiven for thinking I must have taken some persuading. Not so. Perhaps, in a move I’ll come to regret, I didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’. Because firstly, who wouldn’t want to spend time with Richie in Lycra, but also Sport Relief is such a good cause raising money for projects right across the UK and abroad.

It doesn’t mean I’m not worried though. Because like lots of people I’m quick to point to all the things my body can’t do and all the things it isn’t. This bit’s too big, that bit wobbles too much, I’m too old, too slow, too short, too round to do anything. The excuses I make to stop myself from trying. Because if I keep the expectations low then the chances of coming last are less. 

The Bible says, ‘run the race as if to win the prize’. And while I’m pretty convinced I’m never going to be first in any running race, unlike PE at school, the thought of being last isn’t going to stop me this time. I’m going to run, swim and cycle like a winner. This time, I’m going to stop focusing on what I can’t do and start thinking what, with the help of others, I can do, to not only hopefully raise a shed load of cash but also to raise my expectations of myself. To rise to the challenge. To be the last to criticise and the first to say, I can and I will.

 And because nothing of any note is ever achieved alone, Richie, Jo and I are asking you to cheer us on, now you might be able to get out to Cardiff, Glasgow or Manchester and yell at us in person, but if not another great way to show your support is to give generously to sport relief, to raise money yourself, I’m hoping that by doing that we won’t only change the lives of those who really need it, we might just change our own as well, and, at the finishing line, finally see ourselves as the winners we really are.