Toryn Knoyle, the 16-year-old son of former Wales rugby scrum-half Tavis Knoyle, is running 50 miles through the streets of Neath Port Talbot every day to raise money for Maggie's Cancer Centre in Swansea. His goal is to cover 300 miles in just six days, inspired by his aunt Becca, who has been supported by the centre since her cancer diagnosis.
Daily Routine and Support
Since Monday morning, Toryn has been running loops of the 12-mile stretch between his home in Pontneathvaughan and Unit9 Gym in Neath, owned by his father and stepmother Jo. He starts at 5am and continues until 6pm or 7pm, with short breaks to recover and refuel. His father often runs or cycles alongside him for motivation.
Jo Knoyle said the family initially tried to discourage the challenge. "He came to us and said he wanted to do 300 miles in less than a week. We tried every way to put him off. He wanted to do it while his exams were on at first and we were like 'absolutely not'," she explained. After exams, he set up a JustGiving page. "We tried to tell him that even trying to do a marathon a day was a huge achievement, but two marathons a day over six days is crazy. Everyone is saying he's crazy," she added.
Fundraising Success and Community Support
Toryn has already raised close to £5,000, smashing his original target of £1,000. The community has rallied behind him, with people driving by to honk their horns and family members, including his grandparents, joining on bikes for parts of the route. Due to the ongoing heatwave, he also runs some miles on a treadmill at the gym to avoid the hottest part of the afternoon. "He didn't want to do that, but we forced him into doing it," Jo laughed.
It has been a family effort, with Jo, Tavis, and Toryn's mother Julie Williams tag-teaming to support him. "Julie's taking him home in the night, feeding him, rubbing his feet, doing everything for him and then dropping him here at 5am for Tavis to take him out all day again," Jo said. She added that Tavis, with his professional rugby experience, is "the best coach for him to have."
Mental Toughness and Motivation
Despite barely being able to walk at times, Toryn remains determined. "I've asked him if it's harder than he thought because we were all convinced he thought it would be easy but he just turns around and says: 'Yeah, it's as hard as I thought it was going to be'. He could hardly walk and he still was saying he expected all this. He's just so tough mentally," Jo said.
Toryn's motivation is his aunt Becca, who is "happy and proud" of him. "She's obviously worried about him now because of how many miles he's doing but she's ecstatic because Maggie's helped her so much. He loves Becca and I think his main motivation is how much money he's raising for them. His target was only £1,000 but he's over £4,000, which is unbelievable really," Jo added.
Toryn is due to finish the challenge at Seven Sisters RFC on Saturday evening. His journey can be followed on Instagram @trw__9.
