Running a patio marathon for charity
Corporal Pardeep, inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore, ran an entire marathon in her 6 metre patio to raise money for NHS East Ambulance Service, cheered on by friends and family on social media.
She managed this feat in 6 hours and 21 minutes (58,104 steps and 5,715 laps of the garden) and raised £1320 for the NHS East Ambulance Service.
Coporal Pardeep commits to a charity fundraiser each year. Last year, her plan to run in the Brighton Marathon was waylaid by the pandemic. After reading about Captain Sir Tom Moore’s 100 laps, she realised that space was no obstacle. She completed the planned marathon going back and forth on her patio.
“If a 100 year old man can do this, why can’t I?”
Her brother cheered her on via a live stream on social media (Facebook and Instagram) and kept her updated on who was commenting and logging into the live stream. She exceeded her target of £500 by more than double.
Pardeep is an Army Chef in an Officer’s Mess. An avid fitness hobbyist, she spends an hour and a half in the gym before work most mornings. She knows, in these difficult times, that food is great for morale.
Her mother, who has recently recovered from cancer, inspired her to begin charity fundraisers. In 2018 Pardeep deployed on a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, and while she was there she baked 500 pieces of cake to raise £400 for Macmillan Cancer Support. People from all nations on the UN mission came to taste her cakes and put some coins in the fundraiser.
She runs a Youtube cooking channel where she runs cook-alongs that people can take part in and does fitness blogging as well to keep people motivated. She has done live streamed cooking sessions with celebrity chefs from India and MasterChef UK, including semi-finalists and finalists. Inspired by her mother when she was growing up in India, she developed a love of food and cooking at a young age.
“You need to cook with love.”
As part of an exciting career, she has also deployed on multinational training exercises to Kenya and Latvia. While in Kenya she learnt some Swahili and participated in Adventure Training, including mountain biking, hill walking and kayaking. She was the 1st placed woman in a race of 200 runners on Indian Independence Day in South Sudan.
In another year she worked with the Diversity Action Recruiting Team, visiting schools, community groups and universities around the UK, and got to meet the Prime Minster at Number 10.
She’s already preparing for her next fundraiser, a triathlon which will most likely be for a soldiers or veterans charity. She’s training to become a Physical Training Instructor in the British Army alongside her current role as a Chef.
