Coach Chris helps law firm staff get on track

A TOP athletics coach is helping a city law firm, who are celebrating their 200th anniversary, get on track for the Plymouth Half Marathon. Chris Menlove-Platt is mentoring a team of runners from Wolferstans ahead of the 13.1mile run on June 3. Employment law specialist and race participant Eoin Fowell said between high kicks and sprints: "He's giving us a beasting. I didn't expect this – and this is just the warm-up."

Some of the Wolferstans team are regular runners and some haven't donned their running shoes since leaving school.

Chris, a UK Athletics-qualified Coach in Running Fitness, said: "They are not beginners – they are in the early stages of preparing for a half-marathon.

"A lot of people in training end up injured, so if you can learn proper techniques at the beginning then that's much better."

Sophie Critchley, 23, a paralegal (assistant solicitor) at the law firm, hasn't run since school, but is pressing on with preparations. "I'm not very sporty," she said.

"I've not run a marathon before. I signed up because it's a big thing for Wolferstans and it's good to get involved."

Wolferstans celebrates its 200th year in 2012 and the firm is part of the way through an extraordinary fund-raising anniversary year, with the aim of donating £2012 every month to a charity associated with Plymouth.

Rebecca Tamblin, Wolferstans marketing executive, said: "Not many firms can say they've been around for 200 years. The reason we're doing this is to give back to the community. Plymouth is our home and that's why we want to give something back."

One of the ways the firm is fund-raising is by participating in the Plymouth Half Marathon.

"The race is a centrepiece of our fund-raising," added Eoin.

"There are 125 staff at Wolferstans and 30 of them are running – it is up to 50 if you count their family and friends and clients. I nearly fell off my chair.

"When you have clients volunteering to do the run for our project, it makes you so glad to do this. Plus it really is a good way of team-building internally. Everybody is motivated to raise money and get fit doing it."