GRIFFEN 2024 | 23 and to the north lay Russia, Iran to the south. As I cycled across the Caucasus into Georgia, and then into a grimly wet Turkey, Europe approached. I had started with the most challenging and alien countries, so coming to Europe felt familiar and as though the cycle tour was coming to an end, when in fact I was only halfway. But I took a route that explored entirely new countries to me, and changed my perspective on Eastern Europe and how similar and indeed different many nations are. Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary felt wonderfully rural, Serbia and Kosovo completely different, and finally into astounding Austria, across central Germany, into the Low Countries and home. My soon-tobe-wife joined me for the last week, and another OA – Stuart Gordon (2004) cycled with us for the last day into London. After cycling 4600 miles across 19 countries in three and a half months, we were stopped 200 metres from the finish line by the rudest interaction I’d had all trip – a Battersea Parks Police person threatening us with fines for cycling. As fit on a bike as I’ll ever be, a fortnight later I made an attempt at the record for ‘furthest distance cycled on a Boris bike in 24 hours’. The record stood at 193 miles, which is a colossal distance to do on any bike, but to do it on a Boris bike is horrendous. But come the next morning, I had cycled 212 miles, set a new record, and alongside the Kazakhstan cycle had raised nearly £4000 for charity in the process. Peter Eccles (1977) With the support of several OAs, family and friends’ sponsorship I have just, as of the end of September 2023, completed a 500 kilometre cycle ride from Pisa to Rome over four days. The purpose was to raise much needed funds for research into treating myeloma, a blood cancer from which my friend Bob is suffering. The team of 36 riders are close to raising almost £100k. Alex Fisher (2007) While I still play professional football, I know the ripe old age of 33 is considered to be well into the realms of retirement from the sport. This, coupled with a double leg break I sustained during a game towards the end of last season, has forced me to begin thinking of life after sport – a daunting prospect for someone who has only considered one career path since primary school. Planning ahead of time and exposing myself to alternative routes and life skills has been vital in allowing me to feel psychologically comfortable with the next step. Over the years, football has allowed me to set up businesses and follow ventures I would never have considered had I chosen a more traditional route after school. For this I am grateful and would encourage anyone reading to follow their heart while they are young and in a position of relative freedom to do so. I am coming to terms with the reality that while the mind will forever crave playing sports at a professional level, the body will find it harder to compete with each passing year. Completing my UEFA B and beginning my UEFA A License will help quell these emotions as I look to embark on a more managerial career after retirement from the sport. Matt Halls (2008) Last summer, I was chosen as one of the Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologists for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, covering diagnostic imaging of athletes from across the world. I trained in Musculoskeletal Radiology in Nottingham, becoming a consultant there in 2020. Nottingham covers the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, so I had gained experience alongside sports doctors with diagnostic imaging. Positions at the Commonwealth Games were advertised via our British Society of Skeletal Radiologists and I applied for one in early 2022. My wife, son, and I moved from Nottingham to be near her family in Worcestershire over the following summer and I used the period between transitioning jobs to work six days at the games. The radiologists provided imaging including X-ray, ultrasound and MRI for the athletes on request from their medical teams within the Athletes’ Village. It was a great experience to have such a concentrated stint of acute sports imaging, as it would normally be dispersed between our usual work. It was also great to be part of the Athletes’ Village, working face-to-face with them and their medical teams. I made some great friends and colleagues, who I still keep in contact with. I would say that in the Athletes’ Village there was a very relaxed approach to allow them to rest, recuperate and prepare mentally in their own way for their next event. They were all very positive and trusting in the medical teams, despite seeing us for a potential injury which could have ruled them out of competing in the games! Life after sport Commonwealth Games, Birmingham ‘22
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