Once a Wasp Woody Runs Marathon for Matt Hampson

WOODY'S FINAL MOMENT
By Barney Burnham
May 2 2006

Former Wasps scrum-half Martyn Wood has been out of action for six months, since suffering a serious neck incident in the gym - but he's been putting his time to good use. He ran the weekend before last's London Marathon, to raise money for Matt Hampson - the Leicester and England Under-21 prop.

 

Matt has been in Stoke Mandeville since breaking his neck over a year ago. Barney Burnham has been finding out how Woody got on.

MW: I went round in 4 hours 52 minutes, which was slightly disappointing. I wanted to do four-and-a-half hours, but I didn't realise how hard it was going to be! I couldn't do as much training as I would have liked, so I'd set myself that target. When you get out there, it really is so much harder than you expect. I underestimated that quite a bit, and just getting round was quite a feat for me.

BB: Had you ever run anything like that distance before?

MW: I did about three or four training runs, which was pretty much all I was allowed to do. I reckon my longest one was probably about 15 or 16 miles. I wouldn't say I did it completely comfortably, but comfortably enough. I certainly thought that I had quite a few more miles left in me. But, when you get to 15 or 16 miles on the day, you realise that you still have another 10 miles to do, and you think: "Bloody hell! It's a hell of a long way." It was a good day, and the crowd were absolutely brilliant.

BB: Yes, everyone says that the crowd just lifts them and propels them towards the finish.

MW: Exactly. I was really quite surprised. You go round the East End, and you go past some pubs you wouldn't venture into, by yourself. You get these big blokes with West Ham shirts on, who usually wouldn't speak to you. I had my name on my shirt, and, as I was going past, I was hearing: "Come on, Woody. Come on!" (note - at this point, Woody put on a passable Cockney accent). So it was great, and it restored a bit of faith in humanity.

BB: How about the dreaded wall? Everybody apparently hits it at some stage.

MW: For me, it was quite early on. Probably about 15 or 16 miles. I walked for about half a mile at 16, 17 miles, but walking hurt just as much as running. I was probably walking at the same speed I was running, so I just thought I might as well carry on running. My knees were getting a bit sore, but while I was walking, I was just seizing up. It was far better to just grit your teeth and run, so that's what I did.

BB: How long did the body take to recover?

MW: I'm still recovering today! The back of one of my knees is quite sore. I'm still getting quite a bit of pain from that. I live in a second floor flat, and, the day after, it was all right going up the stairs, but coming down just jarred. It was very, very painful in the legs. But the worst of it had gone by Wednesday.

BB: Have you got any idea just how much you raised?

MW: I'm hoping to have raised about eight thousand pounds. I did a few raffles and organised a few events down at the club. They raised a couple of grand, so I reckon about eight or nine thousand.

BB: Probably quite a few people will have donated directly to the PRA.

MW: Yes, I think so, and there's still plenty of time to donate. I did plan to raise ten grand, and I reckon I can still get there, with an extra final push.

BB: Your preparations probably weren't ideal, were they? You made the decision to run later than people normally would, because of your particular circumstances. Your injury was between five and six months ago. At which point was it decided that you would be fit enough to run the marathon?

MW: I said I'd do it about four months ago. I managed to get a place, and I started training. I was told by a very good physio and friend of mine that I probably wouldn't do myself any good - and probably regret it, in a few years' time - if I'd done the amount of training I'd wanted to do, in order to get a decent time. So I took his advice. I could have trained more, but I didn't want to put my own wellbeing in jeopardy. I did the bare minimum really, so that the impact wouldn't be as much on my neck, with the pounding of the legs every day.

BB: And how was it that you came to be running for Matt Hampson. Did you meet him while your own injury was being treated?

MW: I realised that I'd probably been quite fortunate with my injury, and that the only difference between me and Matt was that he'd been less fortunate than I had. I've got a brother who's quadriplegic, and I thought it would be good for me to do something for Matt, and also for the PRA, to show solidarity for all the players. I know we knock lumps out of each other every week, but we're all pretty good mates off the field. I think the lads at the clubs have donated so much money for me, because they all realise that what happened to Matt could happen to any one of them. I just went to see Matt in hospital a few times. I suppose I've become quite good friends with him, but I think he might be a bit fed up of me going up on a Wednesday.

BB: Scrum-halves are irritating, aren't they?

MW:Exactly!

BB: Have you had a chance to speak to him since last weekend?

MW: Yes, I was up there again this Wednesday, and had a chat to him. He's a nice guy, a really nice guy, and I must admit it's very humbling when you go and see him.

BB: You're on course to resume playing next season, so next year's marathon's obviously out of the question, but would you consider doing it again, once you've hung up your boots?

MW: I think I would like to. I'd like to do it under four hours, so the target's already there, and that makes me really want to do it. I'll have to wait for my career to finish, so I can train a bit better.

BB: That's one very good reason to keep playing for as long as you can!

MW: Exactly. I'll still be playing when I'm sixty-five!