Sponsored Athletes

Coming soon.

RG Active’s very first sponsored athlete in 2009 was cyclist Alan Ephgrave. We met Alan in Richmond Park where you will see him riding almost everyday of the week. Alan is a local celebrity and a very well known cyclist in the SW London area by anyone who visits Richmond Park. If you have not noticed Alan before he stands out for a number of reasons:

- He is always in the Park and always riding in the same direction.

- He only has ONE leg

- He never wears his helmet (and I have told him off about this!!!!!)

- And he always wears the RG Active Cycle Kit that looks fantastic!!!!!!

Yes, I did say Alan has one leg. Alan is a full leg amputie. He lost his leg in a cycling accident 8 years ago, but that didn’t stop he doing what he loves and riding his bike which is something that makes him one of the most inspirational people we have had the fortune to meet. And don’t think that having one leg holds him back, on a good day a 19 minute lap of Richmond Park is what he will be repeating.

Alan doesn’t get a great deal of opportunity to race but his most recent success was the 2009 National Disability road Race and Time Trial and his first event for his new team ‘RG Active Race Team’. The disability races have handicaps of wide variety of para-athletes competing and the organisers have to handicap the race to allow for different levels of disability which can make for some interesting handicaps being implemented?

Alan is often the only full leg amputie in the events he enters and as a full leg amputie does have a large disadvantage to all other para-athletes as he cannot get out of the saddle, starting is difficult (and they didn’t allow rolling starts) and with these things in mind, his 2 top Ten finishes in the 2009 events were fantastic . We can only imagine how difficult it is to ride with one leg, as many of us couldn’t keep up with Alan and we have two legs!!!!!!

Below are the result, a picture of Alan in action and the brief race report from the National Championship races.

National Disability Circuit and Time Trial Championships

An impressive field of 29 paracylists entered the 2009 National Disability Circuit Championships which saw handcycles racing alongside regular bikes and a tandem for one of two coveted National Champion Jerseys. Fourteen two wheelers and fifteen handcyclists had registered for the race, including the current double Handcycling World Champion and Paralympic Women’s time trial Gold medallist from Beijing, Rachel Morris and Wales’ National Pursuit Champion Russ White who you will normally see attacking in able bodied races.

In the days leading up to the event, Kent experienced some inclement weather but on race day the weather had thankfully cleared up and the sun was shining, though there was a strong wind blowing across the purpose-built racing circuit, which is situated near the south Kent coast. Having created a series of ‘factors’ for the various disability divisions, the competitors gathered on the start line.

Road Race Results – Paracycles

1 Russ White
2 Tim Challinor
3 Shaun McKeown
4 Michael Renison
5 Colin Lynch
6 Alistair McKeen
7 Dominc Hurley
8 Terry Byrne
9 Daniel Weston/Patrick Weston
10 Alan Ephgrave – RG Active Race Team

Many of you may have seen Marsha at RG Active sessions in her coaching capacity but away from the coaching Marsha is a very accomplished athlete and we are very excited to have her competing as a sponsored RG Active athlete. I asked Marsha to say a little bit about herself when compiling this page, and this is what she said……….

I decided when I hit 40 to run my 1st London Marathon and accomplish something I had NEVER thought was possible, to run 26.2 miles! I wasn’t a very sporty person up to that point apart from the weekly aerobics class or occasional tennis game with my friends. I continued running and ran London again the following year to try and better my time, which I did, but did not enjoy it at all! After that I continuously seemed to always be getting injured and more worryingly, I started to lose the love of running.

Someone suggested why not try a triathlon, so I did and I completed my first half Ironman in Dallas, Texas (1st ever triathlon) then 2 months later I completed Nice IM. Not the most conventional way into the sport but I’m not conventional.

Since then I have competed in many Olympic, Sprints and Super Sprint Triathlon distances all around the world including Monaco, Lanzarote, and South Africa. I have been top in my age group, 1st woman and I even qualified for the GB Team in 2010. I am a qualified BTF coach as well as an ASA qualified swimming teacher.

My favorite discipline after swimming, cycling and running is the enjoyment of the sport. That for me is more important then always checking my watch and worrying about position. It is a lifestyle choice that I hopefully will be able to continue with for many more years to come.

If you would like to know more about Marsha follow her exploits:

Please take a few moments to visit Marsha’s website www.marshaelhage.com.

James Jackson is a welcomed addition to the RG Active Race Team for 2011.

James is on Twitter and can be followed so you can keep up to date with his training and racing throughout the season.

Coming Soon.