My way to becoming a rhino hero:
An interview with Nick Wood

The Horn, Spring 2007

Nick Wood is 31 and has worked as an associate for Capital International for the last eight years. He lives in Wimbledon, is club captain of the Wimbledon Windmilers running club, and has raised almost £25,000 for rhino- and community-based conservation. We wanted to find out how one of our favourite supporters combines his two passions: rhinos and running…

Q: Have you ever seen a rhino in the wild? 
A: I went on safari in 2003 to South Africa, and stayed in a lodge just south of the Kruger. By the last day we still hadn’t seen any rhino, despite seeing practically every other animal possible. With just an hour before sunset on the last day, our guide spotted one way off in the bush – we had to leave the safety of the jeep and walk closer to see it. It was an amazing experience.

Q: Was that why you ran the London Marathon in 2004 for Save the Rhino?
A: Yes. I’d been running for about three years, and wanted to do the London Marathon. I knew I wanted to raise money for a conservation charity, and Save the Rhino immediately came to mind. That year I managed to raise £1,830. The year after I somehow got persuaded by a work colleague to try running in the famous costume, so in 2005 I took on that challenge, an experience I can honestly say was the most amazing of my running career. More importantly, I managed to raise nearly £4,000 for Save the Rhino that year. This year I’m running the marathon again, but costume-less, and hopefully in a quicker time!

Q: Who sponsored you to run all these marathons?
A: When people know you are doing some ridiculous challenge, they always seem keen to support you, if only for the amusement of seeing you running around in a giant rubber costume! I’ve found that people are either very interested in Save the Rhino, or are just keen to support you, even if their own favourite charity might be very different.

Q: What about Capital International?
A: I’ve been very lucky in that Capital International, my employer, has a scheme where they will match all associates’ donations with a £2 contribution for every £1 we give. As many of my sponsors were work colleagues, Capital ended up being a very significant contributor. Outside of the marathon sponsorship, in 2004 I also put Save the Rhino forward to the Charity committee for a grant for the Laikipia Wildlife Forum. Capital again supported this in 2005, and just recently they awarded a grant towards the Mkomazi Education programme. My own commitment to Save the Rhino has always been a big factor, as Capital has a policy of supporting charities that have individual associate backing and commitment. The projects Capital funds tend to focus on both community and environment, as do Laikipia and Mkomazi. Both these projects are so worthwhile projects that pitching them was made easy.

Q: And how involved are you now with Save the Rhino?
A: I guess I always assumed it would be a one-off charity run for me, but I soon got involved in several other events, from the annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture to the recent Mkomazi Matatu party, along with regular meetings with Cathy, Petra and the rest of the team. I think their enthusiasm is always so infectious it just makes you want to come back and get more and more involved.

Q: So what’s next in store for our rhino champion?
A: Well, the next challenge is even more ridiculous! Cathy has persuaded me to join a team who will run the Marathon of Britain in September 2008. It’s a 6-day race, covering 175 miles (yes, that’s over a marathon per day!), and we will of course be taking the trusty rhino costume with us. She caught me in an unguarded moment, and it’s very easy to say yes to a race in 2008 when it’s still only 2006! I’m really looking forward to it though, and hoping we can raise a large amount for Save the Rhino again.

Save the Rhino would like to express our sincerest thanks to Nick Wood and his associates at Capital International.