FORMER BRIGG STUDENT TO PUSH HIMSELF TO THE LIMIT IN AID OF THE LINCS & NOTTS AIR AMBULANCE

FROM MARIE WILLIAMSON, LINCS & NOTTS AIR AMBULANCE
 
Jason Walkley is no stranger to triathlons, having taken part in many over the past decade, but this year he will push himself to the limit, taking part in the London Olympic Triathlon where he hopes to shave valuable minutes off his personal best time as he prepares to undertake no fewer than 4 RAF triathlons and an Iron Man competition next year.
Jason was born and raised in Brigg, attending the Vale of Ancholme School and Brigg Sixth Form College before joining the RAF in 2000.
At the time he was a keen footballer, but in 2006 he decided that he was getting too many injuries playing football, so a friend suggested taking part in an RAF sprint triathlon instead.
Jason, pictured above, explained: “I didn’t even know what a triathlon was so had to look it up. I could run, but I had to borrow a bike from a friend and had never swam front crawl before. On the day I swam half of the distance with arms flying around like a windmill and the remainder breast stroke. From that first race I was hooked and took part in my second triathlon a month later.”
Twelve years on, Jason has taken part in many triathlons, Iron Man competitions and Ultra Marathons. He trains three times a day and is the current UK RAF Iron Man Champion with a time of 9 hours and 23 minutes. He hopes to skim at least 23 minutes off this time next year.
Despite taking a break from competing this year after his daughter was born 10 months ago, when he saw a post on Facebook asking for people to run the London Olympic Triathlon on August 4th in aid of the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, he jumped at the chance and has set himself a fundraising target of £500 but hopes to raise more to support the life-saving work of the Air Ambulance.
Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance’s Challenge Events Lead, Rachel Hay, added: “Every year hundreds of people take part in some amazing challenges in aid of our Charity, Jason will push his body to its limit as he swims, cycles and runs to raise money to help us continue to save lives. We are extremely grateful to Jason and to everyone else who uses to undertake a personal challenge to raise money.
“As we prepare to start to fly 24 hours a day later this year we need to raise £4million a year to keep our helicopter operational and saving. This is no mean feat but talking part in challenges like this will help us to achieve this target. Everyone’s challenge is different, to Jason a challenge is an Olympic Triathlon, but yours might be a fun run, 10k or sponsored cycle.”
To sponsor Jason, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jason-walkley2
We also have Charity places available for the Nottingham 10k on August 12th, Great North Run on September 9th, our Ride to Save Lives motorcycle ride out on September 23rd and the Spires and Steeples Challenge on October 14th.
To sign up for your challenge, or to find out more about the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance visit www.ambucopter.org.uk


OUR LOCAL AIR AMBULANCE
 
Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is non-government funded so we rely on the support of our local communities to raise the £4million that we will need in order to increase our hours of operation and get our helicopter flying 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and save even more lives (our helicopter currently flies from 7am – 7pm). The Charity is not part of the NHS.
In June 2017 we took delivery of our top of the range AW169 helicopter and in September of that year started to carry blood on board. These advancements ensure that we are at the forefront of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in the UK.
Our helicopter and Critical Care Team transport the equivalent of an A&E department to the scene of life-threatening incidents and accidents, including road traffic collisions, cardiac arrests, agricultural, farming, horse riding and motorcycle accidents, serious falls and many other incidents. We take care of people in what is often their greatest hour of need.
Our operational crew are based at a purpose-built site at RAF Waddington and we have offices in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
Since we started flying in in 1994, the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance has undertaken more than 19,200 potentially life-saving missions.
Help save a life: There are so many ways to help Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance - together we can keep this vital lifesaving service operating for many years to come. Visit www.ambucopter.org.uk