What’s your favourite part about Club La Santa?  

“It’s changed so much over the over the years. It’s almost a completely different resort now than it was 10 years ago, the new sports facilities are terrific like the HYROX they’ve just introduced. The upgrades to all the existing facilities, I spend quite a lot of time on the running track and the upgrades for that are fantastic. The new bikes are brilliant. But also some of the quiet areas such as La Rambla, which is really nice to sit down and particularly the recovery circle they’ve got there. So, if you have tired legs, you can go into the recovery circle and get a bit of a cool down.

What do I love most about Club La Santa? It’s just the atmosphere. You just want to be active! There’s a real magic in the air when you when you arrive in La Santa, and it doesn’t matter what your sport or your activity is. It’s just something just drives you to be the very best person that you are and draw upon other people’s experiences as well. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Everybody you meet there is so positive and so helpful, and the Green Team are just amazing. They’re really passionate about what they do and their passion just rubs off on you. You just want to be active with them.”

How did you find the Night Run?

“It was this huge enjoyable party atmosphere! There were fireworks half halfway round the course, they had a steel band playing and then a little bit further round the course, they had a rave from a DJ with a smoke machine and lights going. It was so well organised – my wife and I both ran it and we’ll definitely be going back to do it again next year!”

Do you have any upcoming challenges after you have completed your 100km challenge?

“I’ve got four ultramarathons that are in next year’s diary, and I will be supporting the message around testicular cancer on them all as well.

In August I fly out to Chamonix to run around Mont Blanc again. I did that in 2023, and I loved it so I’m going back again and then in November I will probably fly down to Mallorca and do the UTMB ultra. And I’ll also be back in Club La Santa because I absolutely love the Night Run.”

Do you have any fond memories or stories from your visits to Club La Santa?

“When I run my ultras, on my backpack I always have a printout of the names of those that have been touched by cancer, those are people that are in remission, those that are receiving treatment and those that we remember. I’ve done that since I did my first ultra and I always put a post in my group to announce that this is what I’m doing in case someone wants to put a name down – my backpack is always full of names.

I was walking through the pool bar at Club La Santa and there was a lady there wearing a t-shirt on from ultra challenges – it is a bit of a community. I stopped and chatted to her and said “Oh you have done an ultra-challenge!” I then said to her, “I have just done one from London to Brighton again this year” and I gave the story about the names on my backpack. She looked at me and said, “Oh my gosh. You carry my brother’s name”. Of all the places to meet up! We had a really good exchange there; her brother had sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer. But to meet her in Club La Santa, well, I was kind of like all the stars were aligned.”

What’s next for you at CLS, do you have plans to be back soon?

“Our first visit will be in April and then November for the International Running Challenge which looks so good. It’s all about taking part no matter who you are or what pace you are at, they create an environment absolutely perfectly out there at CLS and a lot of that is down to the bit behind the scenes. You don’t see all the organization, but you do see a lot of support for the team and also for the Green Team who are supporting it as well. They bring their passion, and you really feel it.”

Andy is a real inspiration to us here at Club La Santa. Find out more about how you can get involved in activities such as the Night Run and the Lanzarote international Running Challenge at CLS, plus many more here!