Overcoming immense physical barriers to run has transformed these inspirational athletes, mind and body
MATTHEW KINGSTON OVERCAME THE AMPUTATION OF HIS RIGHT LEG
‘I was in the Royal Marines and my job description was to run around with weight on my back and fight. Fitness played a large part in our everyday activity. In 2007, I was deployed to Afghanistan and got shot within a few months. The bullet went through the talus joint in my ankle and smashed it to bits.
I kept my leg for a year and had a couple of surgeries, but it was messed up. They gave me two options: an ankle fusion, which could cause problems down the line, or amputation. So, in 2008, I had my leg amputated from below the knee, and I’ve not looked back.
I ended up leaving the military and I set up a company doing security offshore for anti-piracy in 2012. That took me into the office for 12 hours a day, six days a week – and it broke me. I put on a lot of weight, my fitness fell away and I ended up being miserable. I was yo-yoing in the gym. It just got too much in the end and I jacked it in, sold the company and started mixing cement for a chap in Market Harborough. Being outside with the guys again, having a laugh, I didn’t care how much money I was earning.
The weight dropped off, my mental health improved and I started getting back into fitness. I’d had a running blade ever since I lost my leg – it’s standard issue from the military rehab centre, if you want one. But running was always an issue for me. I’d go for a run, get to 500m and, in the silicone liner that attaches the prosthesis to my body, there would be half a cup of sweat. And the liner would slip down, too, which hurt. I’d adjust it two or three times, but the pleasure would be gone and I’d end up sulking and coming home.
I was doing that on and off for years; then someone told me about an antiperspirant for excessive sweating. I tried it the next day. For the first time in two years, I ran 5K with no dramas – the most liberating and invigorating experience I’d had since losing my leg. I was almost in tears running down the road.
From there, I just built on that. I got a lot of help from my wife, Amy, who is an ultrarunner and a massive inspiration to me. I took it upon myself to set a challenge, and I did the Weymouth half Ironman with another friend from the Marines. I had three legs to change – swim leg, bike and blade – and the race organisers were really good about it. They gave me and a few others our own area where we could sit down and sort our admin.
Then we did the
