Team Veteran

Team Veteran’s focus point is the marathon

A strong life – despite wheelchair, new legs or headaches …

When a veteran returns from war he is a changed person. New impressions and the feeling of having made a difference, after six tough months, leave a mark – and in most cases a positive one. However, the memories and scars will always stay with a small number of the veterans. Either from the disastrous moment the explosion took place or as an insidious mental injury which slowly but surely clouds the mind. Whether the injury is physical or mental is of no importance – the damage has been done.

 

Team Veteran – who are we?

Team Veteran is a voluntary, non-political organization made up by a number of persons, where the driving force is the intention to offer help and self-help through sports and comradeship. Team Veteran uses the veteran policy of the Government as benchmark and in this way supports the established system for treatment. This can be seen from Team Veteran’s objective of being a matching shade in the many-coloured palette of established offers for physically and mentally injured veterans. Team Veteran’s shade is the marathon.

The purpose of the veteran’s participation in Team Veteran’s activities

Team Veteran’s project consists of a number of psycho-social development potentials for the individual participant. During the preparatory phase an important common practice is established with respect to common objectives and interests. The participants get the possibility to give and receive help and to exchange views with each other, and in future they will be able to function as role models for other injured veterans. The project functions as a start-up and motivating factor and each participant receives his own individually structured programme made by the attending athletics consultant and psychologist. This individual training programme is arranged in a way that considers the participant’s injury, form and objective.

As part of the ensuing comprehensive identity work that is necessary when the participant has been seriously injured during service, the project can show what is possible in spite of the often vast extent of the injuries. When training with the purpose of finishing a long distance race – whether with prosthetics, hand bicycle or as mentally injured – the strength of the body is rediscovered and body consciousness increased. The participant’s limits are moved and new possibilities appear. In this way focus is shifted from loss and shortcomings to resources, and this is exactly what works.

Finally, the participant experiences that on a bio-hormonal level there is a major release of relaxing and feel-good enhancing hormonal substances among others endophines, noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotin. The training has the effect – besides sore muscles, lots of sweat and hours of fresh air – that the participant achieves a stress reducing stage that supports and enhances the feeling of physical and mental wellbeing.

 

Why marathon in the USA?

In 2017 Team Veteran will once again run the US Marine Corps Marathon in the American capital Washington DC. The connection between the marathon and the legendary American Marine Corps makes this race especially attractive to many veterans. At the same time, the choice of Washington DC is a consequence of a much closer co-operation established between Team Veteran and the veteran organization of the Marine Corps, Team Semper Fi. Team Semper Fi was once again participating in the Copenhagen Marathon in May 2017 alongside Team Veteran..

 

Selection of participants

Team Veteran 2017 is for the first made up only by mentally injured veterans. Like earlier, it is the wish of the project to place veterans with physical injuries on an equal footing with veterans with mental injuries ensuring that war injuries are considered equal.
In practice, the selection has been carried out as follows. The participants have written a motivated application and have been evaluated according to their motivation to participate in the project, their willingness to train and their present everyday needs. The aim is to have a team with a spread in gender, age, rank, mission experience, problems and injuries.

Who are our co-operators?

Team Veteran co-operates with the veteran association Danmarks Veteraner, the Veteran Center and Team Semper Fi.

 

Helpers, trainers and other supporters

It is the job of the helpers – besides training, support and project management – to accompany the participating runners during the marathon. When the mind is fragile, the prosthesis is gnawing and the pressure heavy, it is nice to know that your buddy is right next to you.

Become a participant

Are you a physically or mentally injured veteran with courage and a will to finish a marathon – and do it with a lot of nice people? Contact Team Veteran and hear about the options.

How does the selection take place?

In practice, you write an application describing your motivation for participating in the project, your willingness to train and your present everyday needs. You are welcome to contact Team Veteran to hear more about the project before you write your application. For more information see under contact. The selection process is headed by Team Veteran’s attached psychologist, Miss Julie Hee Young Olsen, and sports consultant, Mr. Troels Rasmussen
It is the aim of Team Veteran to have a team with a spread in gender, age, rank, mission experience, problems and injuries.