Fred Smith

I am nominating my dad as he encourages me to do my best. He is a coach at Saltwell Harriers; he supports members of the club to do their best cheer on at races and events. He has supported and encouraged many people in their sport or life. At the local Boys Brigade he helps out with sporting and life skills activities, as he was also a part of the BB when he was young. When he was about 18 he got his duke of Edinburgh Award presented to him by the duke himself, this has inspired me to also get my DofE Award. He races in many fell and cross country races including The Borrowdale Fell race, OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) and he also competes in the Blaydon race with a time of about 34 minutes. He served as a Royal Marine for the UK on the Falkland Islands against Argentina and is proud to be British and that we are hosting the Olympics. He pushes himself to do his very best in all he does whether it is at work, at home or during races. He believes that you can achieve whatever you want as long as you put your mind to it. My dad takes me and my brother rock climbing and if he wasn't there I wouldn't be able to do my best and get to the top, sometimes if felt like I couldn`t do it but he spurs me on. He doesn't believe that you can't do something. This is why I think that my dad, somebody who has helped in the local community and always tries to do his best, should be a London 2012 Olympic torchbearer.