Exchange and Empower: to empower Nepalese girls

Dream. Believe, Achieve - my mantra, and through this fundraising, I hope to empower more Nepalese girls to do the same…

As many of you know, I am participating in the Copenhagen Ironman this Sunday, 21st of August. I originally signed up pre-Covid to join in 2020 - so it's been a long time in the making! The race is made up a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike and a 42km run - with a target time of under 14.5hours

I was asked why I signed up; at the time, having completed two half Ironmans - it seemed the next challenge and how difficult 180km on the bike could be - after all, it's just three lots of 60km…. I was so wrong!!!. But the main reason behind this was just to show my kids that effort, hard work, and grit can help achieve dreams.

The physical side of this challenge has been hard - waking at 4 am to go on a 6-hour bike ride, running before the HK heat gets too much, and the countless swims at Repulse Bay add up when there is still that thing called “work” that needs to happen! However, the mental side was not something I was prepared for, and during the last few weeks, more and more people have told me “that I inspire them” I still don’t get this; it added pressure - what if I fail at this challenge. The tiredness of 5-hour average nightly sleep, a full-time job and the 15-20 hour training weeks, plus the mental pressure I put on myself, left me in tears and ready to give up the dream. But I am here; in less than a week I will be on the course - battling the inevitable demons that pop into my head but focusing on the journey and, hopefully, the finish line.

During recent training sessions and thinking about the “inspiration” point - I thought about a group of girls in Nepal that I have been lucky enough to meet. These girls are far more inspirational than me, coming from poverty and trying to better themselves and learn how to trail run, guide, learn English and earn an income for their families. Over the last 5 years I have been involved with the charity that helps enable this. Exchange and Empower (https://exchangeandempower.org) is a charity in partnership with Mira Rai that takes Nepalese girls and gives them opportunities they would never have otherwise. And now, I have decided to attempt the Copenhagen Ironman to raise funds for this charity; I will execute this race and raise funds to help us help more girls in Nepal…. And I will match the donations up to 25,000 HKD. For full disclosure, I am a director of this HK charity.

These girls are the real inspiration….. So please help us continue to support these girls in achieving their dreams and inspire the next generation of females…