Mumbles RNLI volunteer Rob Tovey became the first ever crew member to take on the Cardiff Half Marathon in full all weather protective clothing, normally worn onboard the lifeboat.
Rob a full-time fireman from Morriston fire station took time out of his busy life to train for the marathon task. He says: ‘ I’ve been running for nearly a year now and I have to say it has been tough. In that time I’ve lost nearly 3 and a half stone in weight and severely built up my stamina.’
Rob who is the 3rd coxswain of the The Mumbles all weather lifeboat has raised over £600 for the new Mumbles Tamar appeal. He adds: ‘Lots of work mates and family have sponsored me and I was really chuffed with my time of just over 2 ½ hours especially as I was running with a good 10lbs in weight on me too. The majority of people who took part did it in just over 2 hrs, I was just glad to finish to be honest.’
Rob had a full all weather oil skin jacket and silhouettes plus his life jacket. He explains: ‘The toughest bit was when I got to the 10 mile marker, the trousers have Velcro tabs on them which had to be sealed up to stop me tripping over them and they started to well up and collect sweat – yuck!’
The RNLI has set a £150,000 fundraising target over three years towards a new £2.7m Tamar class boat for The Mumbles. The Tamar lifeboats are the most advanced vessels operated by the RNLI, providing all weather rescue capabilities and will replace the current Tyne class rescue boat that currently serves The Mumbles. The fund reached the halfway point in July thanks to the fundraising efforts of the general public.
