Summary
Today’s guest John McAvoy is a Nike Athlete and a motivational speaker who inspires young people to live a good, and honest life. However, John’s story is probably unlike anything you’ve heard before…
When John was young, he grew up in an environment of organised crime, leading to a life of armed robbery, and 10 years behind bars at a high-security prison.
His “role models” back in the day, led him to believe being behind bars was “just a way of life”. Everything was about money, the acquisition of wealth and disobeying authority. They told him that if he went to prison and started behaving, then the system had got him.
However, whilst in his cell John decided he wanted to feel like a proper human being so he decided to spend his days educating himself by reading books from the prison librarian, and started exercising one push-up at a time…
John’s new exercise regime led him to break both British and World records whilst in prison, and in turn he's found redemption through the power of sport.
He now lives in the Alps and has forged a life as an endurance athlete and speaker who is committed to using his story of rehabilitation to help and inspire others to change their lives for the better.
In his own words, John feels completely detached from who he was in the past, and that is in itself, is a very moving story.
"The important thing is not what one is born with but what use one makes of that equipment" - Adler
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Now this episode of Rumpod will start in just a moment, but first, with Christmas just round the corner, |
| 0:05.2 | and to make one lucky winners festive season, quite frankly, the best ever. |
| 0:09.7 | Well, we're giving you the chance to win a massive £20,000. |
| 0:13.0 | Imagine what would you spend it on? |
| 0:15.0 | I mean, you could go out and buy the best trainers ever to go out running on Christmas Day, |
| 0:20.5 | or you could even book in and head off to |
| 0:23.1 | the States for like a New York marathon. I mean, how amazing. You could spend it on whatever you |
| 0:28.4 | want but for your chance to win that amazing 20,000 pounds paid into your bank account in time |
| 0:34.2 | for the big day. All you need to do is text the word run to 82200. That's run, |
| 0:40.9 | RUN, to 82200. Text costs £2.50 plus your standard network rate. You need to be 18 or over and live in the UK. |
| 0:48.8 | Lines close at 3pm on Friday the 22nd of December, 2023. If you text after that, you won't be entered, but you may still |
| 0:56.0 | be charged. And to see the full list of participating media |
| 0:59.0 | channels plus the T's and C's, including online and free entry, |
| 1:02.8 | just go to global player.com forward slash win. So there we go. Text |
| 1:06.2 | run to 82200. Good luck. And now for this |
| 1:09.9 | week's episode of Run Pod. |
| 1:13.9 | This is a Global Player Original podcast. |
| 1:20.7 | Hello there. Welcome to Run Pod. I'm Jenny Falconer and I am thrilled to have you here. |
| 1:26.2 | Perhaps you're a new runner and new to Run Pod. If so, welcome |
| 1:29.8 | along. And if you are a returning Run Pod, Run Club regular, well, it's great to have you back. |
| 1:35.4 | Now, in this episode, I'm joined with someone whose story is honestly so inspiring. It has highs, |
| 1:40.3 | it has lows. He's someone who motivates others and also empowers young people through sport and nature. |
... |
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