My name is Pete Le Grice. I’m a 29-year-old Cornish long-distance runner who is fundraising to cover the cost of altitude training to help me to get under the Olympic qualifying time for the marathon, with the ultimate aim of competing for England  – and Cornwall – at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

About me

I started running with my local club, Mounts Bay Harriers, in 2009 and represent them and Bristol & West, competing mainly at 10k and half marathon distances, on a mixture of road, cross-country and multi-terrains.

I ran my first marathon in London in April last year and surprised everyone, including myself, by coming in the top 50 overall  – and top 10 English runners – with a time of 2 hours 23 minutes. That’s only  4 minutes off the Olympic qualifying time, something I know is within my potential.

In May, I ran my first fell run and came second in the 25km at the Keswick Mountain Festival. The steep downhill was difficult and new to me, but I had fun and pushed the previous year’s winner so that we both broke the course record.

My fellow club members have always encouraged me  – giving me lifts, providing me with accommodation and lending me all sorts of kit (including a ladies lightweight jacket for heavy rain in the Lake District!) They suggested I  do this!

The Goals

I know that I have it in me to run faster and I need your help to push to find my limit. I’m planning to take two months off work at the start of 2017 to train at altitude, most likely in Kenya. I’m fundraising through this page to enable me to do this.

Training at altitude can knock over 5 minutes off a Personal Best, which means that I should be able to run the next London marathon within the Commonwealth and Olympic qualifying times of 2 hours 23 minutes and 2 hours 19 minutes, respectively – that sounds crazy, I know!

If I can get down to 2 hours 15 minutes, I stand a good chance of being selected for the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast 2018. That would be amazing.

Competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan would be incredible too, but let’s take it one step at a time.

What else?

Aside from long distance running, I also run my family’s B&B and help with weddings and events at Trereife House – initiatives we continue to maintain and conserve this Grade II* listed property and gardens. Trereife has been in the family for many generations and my parents currently live there. This is a 7-day a week job, around which I do the best I can to train with local runners and on my own.

Living so far west makes  elite level training and competition tricky. Going away in the off-season for altitude training would be a rare opportunity for me to focus on my running and to find out how fast I can go, all eyes on London 2017, Gold Coast 2018, and maybe possibly, slightly on Tokyo 2020.

Support in the form of sponsorship and provision of travel, kit, nutritional and training support would make a huge difference to all aspects of this dream. I hope that you’ll also enjoy being part of the journey.

Many thanks in anticipation

Pete