Spurs put Noah’s Ark hospice team through their paces ahead of the London Marathon

The Noah's Ark marathon team (Image: Archant)

The runners were put through their paces by Spurs’ first team sports science therapist, Eddie Lattimore, who led them through the same regime as the players at the club’s Enfield training ground.

The Noah’s Ark team had access to the state of the art training machines, bespoke training plans and nutritional advice.

The charity’s director of income, Alison Goodman, said: “Following a 0-4 victory over Stoke on Monday, Spurs fans dare to dream of victory this season. That degree of confidence should give our marathon runners a real boost – having been prepared by the same winning fitness team.

“Our runners spent some time in Tottenham’s hypoxic chamber, where the oxygen levels are lowered to simulate altitude training, making the muscles work harder – doing intervals of 45 second sprints with 15 second rests. Interestingly the warm up is not as long as you’d think, at 20 minutes. It included using foam roller and exercise bands – which we weren’t expecting.

The Noah's Ark team had access to the club's high-tech training equipment. (Image: Archant)

“The detailed training plan recommended how many miles to run on set days, so stamina could be built up without causing injuries.

“Nor was the nutritional advice what we expected. Instead of building up the carbs over a week or more before the marathon – just carbing up a couple of days beforehand, for best effect.

“We cannot thank the club enough for all their support to our runners. It was a real privilege for them access the highest quality preparation for the marathon, usually reserved only for sports stars.”

The hospice, which has six runners taking part on Sunday, launched a two-year charity partnership with Tottenham Hotspur football club at last month’s north London derby match.

To support Noah’s Ark’s runners please donate here: https://www.noahsarkhospice.org.uk/Appeal/donate-now