A Marathon Task

Ed Venables, Wellington College’s Director of Admissions, is always busily involved with the marathon task of processing the 1500 applications he receives annually for places at the school. This autumn, however, he was also involved in a very different – and certainly more physically demanding – marathon. Along with his wife Kate, and two other Wellington parents with children at the school, Rosie Perry and Helen Watson, Ed ran the London Marathon for the Cerebral Palsy Trust (which raises funds for life-changing operations for children with cerebral palsy) and for Autistica (fundraising for medical research into autism). Seemingly a glutton for punishment, Ed and his fellow fundraisers ran the marathon dressed as different coloured crayons!

It was great day, and we made our target time of sub five hours.

Ed Venables

Slam-Dunk Spanish Style

Valencia, long regarded as the European mecca for basketball, welcomed 21 Wellington pupils from the Under 15, 16 and 18 teams during the Michaelmas half term for an intensive three-day training camp. During their stay the Wellington players enjoyed training sessions led by top Valencian coaches, took part in closely fought 3 on 3 and 5 on 5 competitions, and pitted their skills each evening against fast-paced and well-drilled local teams.

All the Wellington players gained much from this very rewarding tour, and the lessons learnt from the skilful and tough opposition will add much focus to their ongoing training sessions and will hopefully prove invaluable for the upcoming Lent Term fixtures. Congratulations to them all, not least for their exemplary behaviour both on and off court which not only earned them much respect wherever they went but also reaffirmed the importance of basketball as a popular and high-profile Wellington sport.