This month, Tom Edmondson, Vets Now’s lead talent partner, embarks on an incredible ultramarathon challenge. From June 2024 to June 2025 he will be running one ultramarathon (30+ miles) a month to raise awareness and funds for The Greyhound Trust. In his own words, Tom shares what motivated him to take on this grueling test of determination for such a worthy cause.
What inspired you to take on this challenge?
Back in July after a particularly stressful day I decided to go out for a run (something I’d never normally do) and five very sweaty and sore miles later, I felt like a new human.
It turns out five miles on your first run in eight years is a solid achievement, but that wasn’t enough for me. Two months later my friend pulled out of a half marathon due to injury and I stepped into his place. I completed the run in a good time but again, I didn’t really get a sense of achievement.
Since then I’ve pushed myself to not go faster, but instead focus on going further.
I managed to bag a place at the Lakeland 50 Ultramarthon (July 2024) which sparked an idea to celebrate my 30th birthday this month by doing a 30 mile ultra too – if you’re doing one, you might as well do two…. From this point, the idea snowballed to today where I’m now committed to 12 Ultras in 12 months.
With such a challenge on the horizon, I wanted to utilise this as an opportunity to raise awareness and money for the Greyhound Trust – a charity very close to my heart having adopted two ‘kids’ of our own in 2020.
What do you hope to achieve?
I’ve set a goal via JustGiving to raise £1000 for Greyhounds trust, however even before the event has happened, support has been incredible, and we are already on the way to hitting this target.
Money will go a long way to helping those hounds needing to find their forever homes, but what I hope is to make even more of an impact through the awareness this will bring to the breed in general. They’re often viewed as high energy, hunting dogs when in fact the total opposite is true as they are arguably one of the laziest breeds out there who love nothing more than love and affection.
Tell us a little about your lovely dogs
Myself and fiancée adopted Bobbie and Nellie back in 2020 through the height of lockdown as both of our roles changed permanently to remote working. There was a big appeal going at the time as they needed to be re-homed as a pair due to a few failed adoption attempts previously. The brother and sister pined for each other and wanted nothing more than to be together. Within 5 minutes of being in the house, they were on the sofa, roaching on their backs making sure all of our attention was on them and nothing else. From this point every day they grew into their individual personalities and showed just how loving and loyal a dog can be.
Fast forward to today, Bobbie is a gentle giant. He is the most loving and human orientated dog you will ever meet – the very epitome of a velcro dog. Nellie is our very own pocket rocket, fiercely loyal and independent who has so much love to give. She has the cutest face but is built like a missile. As much as it sounds corny, they quite literally made a house a home.
Both have excelled in training, often doing things “greyhounds don’t do” and have recently welcomed a short term foster greyhound, Wonder, into their home to show him what life is like outside of the race track.
Has your role at Vets Now played any part in your decision to take on this challenge or your training?
Working from home has allowed me to train more consistently as I’ve looked to utilise the time normally spent commuting to and from an office to training. The team have been supportive (although there have been a few raised eyebrows as to why someone would undertake such a challenge).
What’s your favourite thing about your role?
Knowing that I am genuinely making a difference in the industry is arguably my favorite part of my job. Although I’m not a clinician myself, every person I help bring into the business will go on to assist hundreds, if not thousands, of animals in need, as well as their families.
Anyone who owns a pet knows the helplessness that comes when they are unwell. Knowing that the teams I’ve personally contributed to developing are supporting countless people and animals at any given time helps me sleep well at night.
About the races
The runs are going to be a mixture of organised races and personal runs with my first Ultramarathon taking place on 8 June as I undertake the first 30 miles of the Lakeland 50 route.
Following this the official Lakeland 50 Ultramarathon race is taking place on 27 July https://lakeland100.com/
2 weeks later (10 August) I’m undertaking the Devil O’Highland Footrace Ultramarathon – https://www.devilothehighlandsfootrace.co.uk/
In September (28 September) is the 5 Valleys Ultramarathon – https://www.13valleysultra.com/
I then plan on completing a few personal ultramarathons with friends until 25 January 2025 when I undertake the Arc of Attricition 50 Mile Ultra – https://arcofattrition.utmb.world/
There will be more races to add to this list in time!