I do have other hobbies!

Sport, music & drama

Running is my favourite, although I also do squash, tennis and triathlons. I play drums, and I’ve spent several years doing LAMDA.

Sport

Running, mostly

Most Saturdays

I often go to my local 5K parkrun with friends. My current PB is 21:21.

The sea is cold

Brighton Triathlon

I’ve also done the Brighton Triathlon with the same group of friends. It’s great fun, although the sea swim can be just a tiny bit cold :)

Tom running the final stretch of the Brighton Triathlon
The last few hundred metres of the Brighton Triathlon
Tom completing monkey bars in a Spartan race
The final obstacle: the monkey bars

Usually covered in mud

Spartan races

I’ve taken part in Spartan races with my dad and friends, starting with the 5K and now two 10Ks each year.

The races combine running with walls, barbed-wire crawls, sandbags, under-water swims and dozens of other obstacles. Highly recommended. Spartan website.

Tom looking up during a barbed-wire crawl
The barbed-wire crawl
Tom climbing a steep wall during a Spartan 10K
The wall climb in the Spartan 10K
Tom playing in a squash tournament
Playing in a squash tournament at 12

Everything else

Other sports

I played squash between eight and 13, mainly for fun but with a few tournaments along the way. I also like tennis, particularly during the summer.

Football has never been my strongest sport. At school I eventually chose cross-country instead, which probably says everything.

Music

Drums and Guitar

I started learning piano and drums in primary school. Drums suited me much better, so that is what I stuck with.

I’m now learning electric guitar. I’ve been playing drums for a decade, so I thought it was time to learn something new. It also means I can record guitar for my own music instead of doing it all on the computer.

School Band

I also played in a band with two school friends. We performed at several school concerts. Below is one where we performed “Sunday Bloody Sunday”.

The best bit

Just bashing stuff

I do grades but my favourite thing to do is just sit down, shuffle my playlist and play to whatever comes up.

Tom playing drums while his school band performs
Our school band performing “Sunday Bloody Sunday”

One step ahead

Monologues not duologues

I was either one or two grades ahead of everyone else and so could only do monologues.

Suited me just fine.

Drama

LAMDA

LAMDA is an awarding body for drama. I passed Grades 1 through 6, including the Grade 6 Bronze Medal, with five distinctions and one merit.

I’ve done LAMDA since Year 5.