In this fifteenth episode of the season of the Her Spirit podcast BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and BBC Triathlon presenter Annie Emmerson talk to Eddie Brocklesby AKA Iron Gran and founder of Silverfit.
Eddie’s personal drive to get fit was spurred on by her husband Phil's sudden death in his fifties. Phil was diagnosed with colon cancer, which had progressed into pancreatic cancer. Being active and running with my friends helped me dramatically after I lost my husband at such a relatively young age. When I started swimming, at 56, I couldn’t do front-crawl at all and swam breaststroke with my head above water like most women of my age. When I could swim properly, I could start doing triathlons, and from there I entered the Ironman competitions.”
Eddie has now undertaken 10 Ironman challenges – which is made up of a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and then a marathon – and finished six of them.
Known as Iron Gran by many, her fantastic children and grandchildren think a more apt name would be Mad Gran. But her advice would be to make the best of your life – and have fun.
The impressive Eddie launched her charity Silverfit in 2013 to promote sport for older people. It began with running events in London’s parks and has since swelled to 2,000 members at 17 venues across nine boroughs. Silverfit goes into areas of economic deprivation, where they know they can make a difference, Last year they had 23,000 attendances and 60% of their members tell them they now exercise for at least 90 minutes each week.
These podcasts have been made possible through the support of Medichecks www.medichecks.com and Sport England www.sportengland.org.
For more information on Her Spirit go to www.herspirit.co.uk and sign up and download the Her Spirit app. It's FREE till the end of June 2020.
At Her Spirit we’re here for you.
We want to help you discover your potential, achieve your goals, ignite your fitness, find your community.
Head to herspirit.co.uk and sign up for our Core Membership, get access to our virtual classes, monthly challenges and expert advice. Plus, track your progress in our heath hub and find your very own cheerleading squad who will support you every step of the way.
Use the code HERSPIRITPOD3 and get three months completely FREE.
It’s time for You
Join us at herspirit.co.uk | Instagram | Facebook | Get the Her Spirit App