Episode 2 Gareth Thomas: Alfie's Angels

Welsh rugby legend Gareth "Alfie" Thomas

is a real glutton for punishment.

Ahhhhh!

Last year, he went through the wringer, training 16 women from

one Welsh village to compete in the Cardiff half marathon.

We did it! ALL: Yeah!

12 months later, Alfie's back and this time,

he's super-sized his ambitions.

Gareth Thomas here.

I'm looking for 100 Alfie's Angels to take part in the Cardiff

half marathon.

He's got 20 teams with five people each to make a total

of 100 novice runners training

for this year's half marathon.

And, having picked three of those teams to follow, up-close and

personal with the TV cameras,

Alfie's already facing some very challenging hurdles.

I drink, I smoke...

We have cakes, chocolates, biscuits...

The only fitness I do is shopping.

And with just 16 weeks to transform his super-slouchers into

superstars... It's a race!

..can Alfie summon up the charm... I'm feeling her fear, here!

..empathy... Look at the state of me! There's nothing wrong with you!

..and candour... You're sitting here and you're just paying lip service.

You've got to be more motivated to want to do it.

..to drive this band of reluctant runners towards the starting line,

or will this year's Angels put him through hell?

Oh, my God!

Wait a minute...

Previously on Alfie's Angels, Gareth "Alfie" Thomas met the three

teams he'd chosen to follow with the TV cameras as they attempt

to go from unhealthy habits to elite athletes

in just 16 weeks.

CHEERING

Team number one are five nurses who all work on the same ward at

the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in the Rhondda. Ready? I'm ready, yeah.

We are only making a bed, aren't we? Yeah!

Team number two are five barmy beauticians from Haverfordwest.

We're not that natural, there's lots of other fake bits - fake tan,

fake nails... Fake boobs! Fake boobs, yeah!

And team number three are the Ty Gwyn mums - eight amazing ladies

whose children all attend the same special needs school in Cardiff.

All lie on the floor, face down, and do a press up.

There's room over here!

Come on, split up, ladies.

Girls, do you realise how stupid we all look right now?!

Get on your chairs!

So, having broken the ice, it's time for the real work to begin.

Alfie's called all three teams

to the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff.

The nail bar girls have turned up ready to rumble in matching

bum bags, but will the leopard-print

give them go-faster stripes?

Well, we're about to find out as, along with his sidekick

professional sports trainer James Thie, Alfie is getting the

girls suited and booted for their first track-side challenge -

a wee relay race between the teams.

Right, OK. Me and James have come up with a little challenge for you.

So, in four weeks' time, we're all going to be running a 5K.

So what we're going to do, we're going to break up today's

challenge, so in your teams,

we're going to run

25 laps of this track.

Which, collectively, we're going

to run a distance of 5km.

So, has anyone got any questions?

Come on!

The shellshocked ladies hit their pre-race checklist.

Stretches? Check.

Leopard-skin bum bag emergency running repairs,

portable compact fake tan...check.

My mirror, my bronzer.

Mirror and bronzer in there.

Absolutely indispensable, couldn't-possibly-run-without-it,

light-up-in-the-dark lip gloss... Check.

There's a light so you can see it? In the mirror. Oh, my word!

Any other essential running accessories to declare? Well!

Oh, you did put them in there! Well, well, well!

Girls, can you just come over here a minute?

Betsan's been named and shamed.

The fallen angel.

She's fallen already, we haven't even started.

There you are, lovely. Let's start, then. Ready, Bet?

So, Sarah, Rachel, Betsan...

So, Betsan's bum bag's smoking,

but is her running?

Don't forget, girls, it's a race!

It's a RACE!

Go, go, go, go! It's a race!

Go, girls!

Nice speed! Good speed.

Come on, Betsan!

Today, each of Alfie's rookie runners will be covering

approximately 1,000m. That's five times around this 200m track.

Alfie is deliberately pushing them hard.

There's a competitive streak there.

He wants to gauge how fit they really are, because if they're

to complete the Cardiff half marathon in 112 days' time, they

will need to cover over 100 times' the distance of today's challenge.

But, less than halfway through, they're already struggling.

Oh, my God!

I am so unfit.

Oh, please, don't!

You've got to stop when your body tells you to stop. Yeah, I know.

That's it now, girls - bloody hell!

Reality check over, it seems they're currently nowhere near fit

enough for the challenges ahead.

So James hands out some much-needed training schedules,

but with just four weeks before their first 5K,

are all of Alfie's Angels really ready to make the necessary changes?

Oh, no, he's just caught us having a fag!

We won't be doing this by the end of it. We will give up. Won't we?

Um, yes(!)

Promises, promises.

28 days for the three teams to work out their workouts -

for the nurses, to cut down the cakes

and get shifting between shifts.

For the nail bar girls, to sort out their bum bags and their

contraband contents.

And how about the Ty Gwyn mums - how will they juggle training

with the unpredictable pressures of their daily lives?

It's hard, it's really hard - life is hard.

Which is why this is a good thing as well, doing the half marathon,

to give us a chance to do something for ourselves.

And it's a HUGE thing for all of us.

We went out the other evening and it was lovely.

We all came laughing and we all felt refreshed.

We all handed over the duties to the husbands and came back

to complete chaos!

But, yes, one day at a time!

And it really is one day at a time.

Over the next four months, they'll somehow have to fit in three

or four training sessions per week.

It's a big commitment.

And on top of the issues they share as a group,

there are individual demands to contend with.

Sally is the only working mum in the team, juggling the needs of

her daughter Imogen with holding down a part-time job.

She doesn't sleep brilliantly, many a night we're up.

You then have to still get up to go to work or get up to get her

to go to school and I'm still a mum to another child and

he's just as important as she is.

Christina is the only single mum.

Dajon!

There's nobody to off-load when Dajon's having a bad day,

there's nobody to take over.

Where do you want to go, by here?

And Nicola is one of only two mums in the group who have two children

with profound health issues -

her youngest two children - Scott, 11, and Emily, nine.

Both suffer from severe epileptic seizures.

I'd be running into one bedroom because Emily would have a seizure

and then I'd hear the other monitor going and I'd hear Scott

having a seizure and you think, "Which one can I go to?"

From that point of view,

it's like living on a knife's edge all the time.

Whilst the mums don't know how they will fit in their training

programmes, they do know why they need to.

I shouldn't be lifting her, but I do end up lifting her.

I need to be fitter.

I'm 45 years old and I need to get fitter than what I am

for my future and for her future, as well.

Where Dajon's so big,

to try and hold him or calm him down, I'm thinking more of me now,

as we're getting older, because I think I've got to last longer!

To look after him.

I want to be able to roll around with my kids and not feel out

of breath, or bad back, or bad knees.

I feel like a 60-year-old woman when I get up in the mornings and I'm 43.

Mental stresses, physical strains,

is there anything Alfie can do to help out? Are you OK?

Hello, my lovely, are you all right? Well, he's got an interesting plan.

Hello! Don't look so afraid!

So, girls, apart from the training side, is life stressful?

Yes! Yes! Yes.

Because I hate being stressed and I try to keep as little of that

in my life as possible because I find it really affects me.

What I have maybe once a month, you lot have from the moment you

wake up until the moment you go to bed. Yes.

So today, I'm going to take you to a little place where hopefully

you can find ways of de-stressing,

so when the training gets ramped up,

learn to deal with the stresses that could potentially be ahead of us.

You up for giving it a try? I look forward to that. Yeah.

Follow me, ladies. Hi-ho!

# Hi-ho! #

# Hi-ho, hi-ho!... #

Come on, don't make me look like a fool on camera!

Where on earth is Alfie leading his seven ladies?

This doesn't look like an enchanted forest

and he's not an obvious runaway princess.

Come back to centre.

All is revealed.

And then the other side.

It's a stretchy yoga session.

From here, your right hand stays where it is,

I'm going to turn up with the left and look up towards the ceiling.

It's kind of a cross between twister training...

Move your right hand across the body towards your left foot.

..and the Spanish Inquisition.

And your right hand, you grab the left foot, then we lower the

left knee down towards the floor.

It's a dream. Are you really there?

Christina can see the benefits.

Is this what I've got to do to get a bum like her?

I'll do it, I'll come regular. Place them onto the forehead...

But Cass is not so sure. Namaste.

Rachel is not impressed.

This is not me, I'm not in my comfort zone,

totally out of my comfort zone, but I'm giving it a go, yes.

But Nicola is. I love it.

Even just the stretching is just...

I can feel it, especially after our run yesterday, it feels good.

And the proof is in who can pull off the party piece.

You're going to rock yourself forwards so the chest comes over

the hands and then you're going to try and take one foot off the floor.

And then try and lean and take the other foot off.

Yes! Yes! Yay!

Right, I can honestly say

I have never done that before in my life, I just blocked

everything else out and I concentrated on me

and me doing it.

Cos that's what the exercise is all about -

taking the time for ourselves.

Now, invite me to a party so I can show everyone I can do it!

You might have to invite Cass to that party, too.

Whoo! Yes!

On the whole, I'm really happy we've done that.

A lot of the girls got a lot from it,

but I think they're still constantly thinking of others, so there's still

work to be done with them, but it's been a good exercise for us to do.

So it's a fairy tale ending, then, Alfie.

Magic.

Meanwhile, over in nurse land,

Zoe, Leigh and Sarah are just turning in from the night shift.

After a 12-hour stint constantly on their feet,

it's time to kick back and, on their way home,

take in a two-hour punishment session down their local gym.

Not content with the slow-build training plan given to them

by Alfie and James, these hard-core carers have gone off-piste

and appointed a personal trainer called Brendan. Six of them.

Left foot forward. Brendan is an exacting taskmaster.

It's HIIT training, so I'm trying to up their heart rate and bring it

back down, try to get them a little bit fitter.

Fitter's good.

Gives you a break from your running,

so it makes it more fun and it pushes us, as well.

Fun is good, too.

Always give them an extra round the lap for luck,

push them that extra 10% every session.

Lucky, pushy, 10% extra laps.

Let's do it! My God! Come on,

there's no, "I can't" in this game.

Of course, there are downsides to all of this pumping and thumping.

My legs are really burning.

Just ask fellow nurses Jo and Michelle.

The morning before the 5K,

instead of burning their legs down the gym,

they're hobbling to see the physio.

Seems they've been a bit too "lucky pushy with their extra 10%" and

now Michelle's calf's all sore and Jo's ankle looks like she's

given it a whack with a sledgehammer.

Expert physio Christine Green will get them up and running.

The question is, how soon?

When's the race, then? We have a 5K tomorrow.

Oh, right - OK, fine. No pressure!

I'm going to have to press quite firmly a minute. There? Yes.

OK.

So you've got a lovely big muscle here which is a heart shape

and it's right in the belly of that muscle there.

It's quite tight, actually. It is, yes.

I think she's got a deep muscle strain,

I think she's severed a few fibres of muscle, you know?

So she's probably got some scar tissue in there as well and

we need to just work it out.

And Jo's ankle... It's like a golf ball on there now. Oh, love...

You haven't turned over on this? No.

So when is it painful, then?

It's painful all up here.

So, ligaments, tendons, soft tissue...?

What's the damage, Christine?

If you don't get any further with this, then an X-ray is

important just to rule out any stress fractures more than anything.

But what about tomorrow's 5K?

Ideally, I wouldn't want her running tomorrow.

But I think a walk around 5K is OK.

All right? Yeah. And Michelle?

It's not ideal for you to go running, but your body will

tell you that, so you just get round the best you can, yeah? OK.

OK, is that a deal? It's a deal!

Phew. A lucky escape for those two.

And the moral of this tale,

training to run a half marathon is quite literally one step at a time.

Meanwhile, in another galaxy entirely, the nail bar girls

have adopted a rather unconventional warm-up routine.

Right, so we're having our cheeky fag before we go out for our run.

Makes us stronger!

No, it really doesn't! It does, it's good for your lungs!

Sorry, what was the name of your doctor, Betsan?

Bye!

In fairness to the filers, they've been training hard,

stunned by Alfie's lack of faith in them.

It pains me to say, but I can't see them doing it.

They've been pounding the streets, the woods and the river banks

of Haverfordwest in order to get racing fit for the 5K.

In fact, some of them have put in some extra-special preparation.

So, last night I went for my Botox,

so I've had it all through the top of my forehead and in my

frown and a little bit round my eyes, so at the minute,

I've still got movement, but it should be ready

when we do the 5K run,

I'll have a nice plastic fantastic forehead!

No lines when I'm running!

You must be the first person to prepare for a 5K by having Botox.

Surely not? No!

Surely? There's bound to be others that have done that.

Indeed there are - Betsan.

Her doctor, yes, him again,

has allegedly told her Botox makes you run faster.

Because the muscles are frozen,

so I'm using less muscles,

that's what my doctor said.

I'm using less muscles,

so I'm not going to sweat as much and...

More power for the rest of my muscles to move.

OK, well... Alfie might let the Botox by,

but not the smoking. Sorry, Alfie.

As I said before, we're the fallen angels. So...

Try taming us will be like trying to tame lion...

or five.

Well, that's just a risk Alfie is going to have to run,

because he's just arrived in Haverfordwest on serious business.

The girls' Botox might be smoking, but that doesn't mean they can.

And back at the nail bar, he's arranged an intervention.

Alison John from Stop Smoking Wales

is here to help stub out the bad habits.

It's payback time!

Right, we've got some really good runners in here,

but I think that something is still stopping you,

three in particular, reaching your potential.

I think we all know what that is, so we've brought Alison in to give

you some facts on how the smoking is affecting your performances.

We don't expect you to quit straightaway.

I wouldn't say to you, "Oh, you've got to give up today",

we would say, "Right, plan in the next two weeks to give up smoking".

Do you want to give up? Not really.

The thing is, what I find mental,

you're so motivated by getting fit and getting healthy and doing

this half marathon, but also changing your lifestyle, yet the one

thing holding you back, you haven't got the motivation to cut it.

I've seen you, and I'm looking at you like that, and you've got

your head down, you're not even looking or listening to her. I am!

You're not, Bet... I am listening.

If I was talking about running and training,

talking about motivating,

you'd have your eyes on me, you'd be like that, nodding,

looking at the girls, going, "Come on, girls, we can do this together",

but you've got to be motivated to want to do it.

From what I know of you lot now,

you're sitting here and just paying lip service, basically.

We know that it's bad for us, don't we?

But we enjoy having that cigarette.

We want to get that out of our heads, don't we? Yes.

But also, I think you've got to WANT to give up, like you want to

win the friggin' half marathon, you want to run a time.

OK, time these nail bar girls faced the unvarnished truth.

Your lungs, after a year, when you smoke 20 a day, OK?

Eurgh, what is it?

It's a jar of tar, we call it.

Then there's the carbon monoxide,

the deadly gas you draw into your lungs with every drag.

How much has Betsan got stored up in her bloodstream?

What is it? It's 33. Normal is anything up to 10.

So what does that equate to?

It's a poisonous gas,

so that's what causes all the problems with circulation,

that's what starves your heart of oxygen, do you know what I mean?

Carbon monoxide is replacing the oxygen, really,

so your body is not getting enough oxygen.

33.

HE WHISTLES

Kat scores a reasonable 14.

That's fine.

But Charlotte is up there with Betsan on 33.

So, is this the wake-up call they need?

And what of Alfie's lifestyle philosophy

of "everything in moderation"?

To me, everything in moderation is a drink when you're out

enjoying yourself, a piece of cake

when you've trained hard to earn it, a bit of chocolate,

a Chinese with your family.

Not something that is killing you.

I want to give up and I've tried previously,

but I don't want to at this moment in time.

So that's my issue, I've got to get my head round it and think

enough is enough, because when is going to be the day?

It's just going to go on and on, so realistically,

I need to get a grip and think, yes, this is it.

At the moment, I'm sort of quite young and quite healthy,

but it's not going to be long until it's taken over me

and then really affecting my health,

so I really don't want that to happen and need to stop.

I've done it before, but then again, I've given up and then I've

got into it again, so this time, that's it, isn't it? Yeah.

I care about these people,

so everything in moderation that is not harmful to your life.

There's a difference.

But are the girls ready to make that difference?

Only time will tell.

It's Saturday, 16 July, 2016 -

Blackweir, Cardiff.

The Angels are about to line up with over 300 other runners for

their first ever 5km trial.

Just four weeks ago,

most of these ladies got breathless running a bath.

Now, they're about to attempt to run 3.1 miles

and stomachs are definitely churning.

Hello, girls!

The day has arrived.

How are you all feeling? Nervous. Yeah?

I feel I'm putting too much pressure on myself, that's the problem. Don't put pressure on yourself.

I'm thinking, "Oh, my word, all these people will run past me and I'm going to come in last"

and I'm putting pressure on myself. It's fine. It doesn't matter.

Listen to your team now, that's why we've got teams.

Added to the nerves and fears are the niggling injuries.

There's nurse Jo's ankle. So, are you actually going to do it today?

I'm going to try it and see how it goes. Have you been to see a physio?

Yes. What did the physio say? Not to run it!

You are a nurse, yes?! Is that right?

So Alfie's got a nurse ignoring medical advice

and as they make their way to the start line, he also notices

nail bar Angel Kat is limping.

Right, could I have the nail bar girls, a minute?

Come over here a minute. Time to put on the captain's armband.

Girls, I'm making an executive decision.

I'm going to pull Kathryn out, I know she wants to do it,

but her ankle is too sore, right?

The objective of this is to get you to the finish line of the

half marathon, not the start line of the 5K. Right? Don't cry.

So, I'm going to pull her out.

I know you're right in what you're saying. OK.

So, what have you done exactly, cos I can see you're limping?

I ran 6 miles, but at the end of it, there was one more little hill,

so I felt it pulling in my foot, around here and coming up

and I didn't want to stop, so I kept going. OK. It's all swollen.

OK. So we can learn from that, can't we? Yeah? Yes, stop.

Yes, stop if it hurts.

Yeah.

One Angel down, but the race goes on.

A month ago, every Angel struggled to get around

a 200m indoor sports track.

28 days later, they are aiming to cover 25 times that distance -

enormous strides,

but will it prove a step too far?

Well, after 1km, the Angels are already feeling the burn.

I've got a stitch! Some of it self-inflicted.

Flagging a little bit.

The booze from last night is starting to come out now.

Some of it injury related. How's your calf, Mich? Sore. Sore?

Right, stop. You've got to stop.

Stop, Mich - walk back to the start line.

Reluctantly, nurse Michelle limps back towards the start line,

where already one forlorn figure is looking longingly into the distance.

It's horrible, isn't it? It's gutting.

I've been training really hard, as well.

But it's not the half marathon, is it? So it makes sense.

Sadly, Kat's feeling fraught,

but thanks to the Botox,

she's convinced she's hiding it well.

I can't frown now, look. This is me, isn't it, upset. I try and frown...

And I'm looking surprised! I just looked surprised!

So I suppose that's one thing, isn't it? The Botox has kicked in.

I should have put Botox on my foot before I ran!

That would have worked!

Ahh. Gutted.

Meanwhile, back on the track, as they reach the 3K point,

some of the Angels are cooking on gas...

Nearly there! Feeling strong!

..whilst others might need a couple more tokens for the meter.

This is hard work. Bloody hard work.

All right, girls? Still got a pulse?

Still breathing? Just about.

Good girls. How're you feeling now?

Horrendous.

Got to keep going.

But all of them, including nurse Jo and her dodgy ankle,

and mum Hayley, who is far from last, keep pushing on.

In fact, some unlikely Angels appeared to be enjoying themselves.

# Informer, you know say I'm gonna blame

# A licky boom-boom down... # ALFIE LAUGHS

Go on! Down at the finish,

injury-hit Kat and Michelle welcome the first Angel home -

nurse Zoe.

OK? It's just emotional, isn't it?

Come on, Sarah!

She's quickly followed by fellow nurse Sarah.

Go on, Sal!

And then Ty Gwyn mum, Sally.

Fuelled by song and last night's sangria,

nail girls Betsan and Charlotte are next to finish,

but not without fellow filer Kat.

I think I might pass out in a minute. Betsan enjoyed it.

Cured the hangover. I don't think I did as much.

Go, go, go! Mums Liz and Nicola Usain-Bolt their last 100.

I never stopped once and I'm chuffed with that. I never stopped once.

Nurse Jo and her ankle limp over the line.

I was really disheartened yesterday coming out from the physio

and I thought, well, I'll see what my body says.

If I'm OK going, I'll carry on going, and I was, so...

Mum Rachel is next. It was hard.

I'm still struggling, but I'm pleased with myself,

really pleased, so I've got to keep going on.

Go on, Christina! Are you chuffed with that, though?

I am, yes, in my mind.

See, you kept telling yourself you couldn't do it.

Mum Hayley comes homing in.

How do you feel? Knackered!

As does Angela.

And last, but not least, come Leigh and Lisa.

And Lisa is very harsh about her own performance.

No, I'm not proud of myself at the minute, I've got to be honest.

I'm disgusted with myself.

Why are you disgusted?

Oh. Why?

You did absolutely fantastic! I'm so unfit. Hey! You were brilliant!

She feels disappointed in herself and she shouldn't.

She's amazing. Yeah!

You've just run round a 5K!

When have you ever done that?

We were saying going round, right,

she was saying she was feeling unfit

but she ran 2K without stopping.

I went, "Why are you being so negative,

"because four weeks ago..." How far could you run four weeks ago?

Not even a minute. Not even a minute. And she's run 2K.

That's amazing. It's just really hard, isn't it?

It is hard, everyone found it hard.

It's worth it to have a snog off Alfie!

Ah, you can have snog from me any day, my lovely!

I am so, so proud of you all.

I genuinely am. When I ran round that park with you today,

and people were calling out your names,

and I was watching your faces and honestly, what this means to me...

It's so much, so thank you for all your effort in the last couple of weeks. I'm about to cry!

I know, I'm terrible.

It's only because I just look at you all and you're beaming,

every single one of you is smiling.

You've just run 5K. Four weeks ago, the thought of running 5K,

you were dreading. It's going to get harder.

But the smiles will get bigger.

The harder it gets, the bigger the smiles get. Right?

Seriously, thank you. Thank you, Alfie. Thank you.

Cheers, Alfie's Angels!

The Angels enjoy a well-earned aperitif,

but away from the festivities, Alfie's got issues.

I wanted to say it as a group, but I didn't want to wipe the smiles

off their faces, because they're so happy right now.

I've a lot of concerns.

Concerns with the injuries and concerns that they feel like

if they don't do something, they're falling behind.

That's all come from a lot of girls getting demotivated by

speaking to other girls who are running further than they are.

I'm trying to reiterate to them constantly that it's not

who's the fastest and it's not who can run the furthest,

it's about who can finish, so there are a few concerns I need to

deal with, but today is not the day for that.

Today is for smiles and celebrating

the achievement of what they've just done.

CHEERING

Next time, on Alfie's Angels...

The fracture is straight through the bone.

Nurse Jo gets the break no runner wants.

Alfie invites the ladies to a relaxing R mud spa.

And all 100 Angels invade Cardiff Castle.