Redemption: From Iron Bars to Ironman

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Trying to make himself heard over the rap music blaring through the minibus speakers, Kain’s face creases into a warm smile as he considers the difficulties involved in a project to support young people, some of whom are incredibly vulnerable. ‘The idea that we take young people who are so far out of the normal paradigm of trail running, and take on all of the complexities that come with that is really exciting, but not without its challenges,’ he says. The weekend, and indeed the whole programme isn’t just a holiday, stresses Kain. Even after ground rules were agreed on the Friday evening, his youth-working skills were called upon when some of the group were unable to settle down. The 15 years that followed have led McAvoy along a very different path to the one he had envisaged growing up among hardened members of the criminal underworld.

On his time as a criminal, McAvoy said, "I regret everything I did as a young person. I've always accepted full responsibility for my actions. No one made me do what I did when I was a young kid, when I was a man. I made those decisions and I do regret them. I think that's what motivates me so much now to stop other people making the same bad life choices I did. When one of his key workers noticed David’s potential and encouraged him to join a running club upon release, David’s life started to change as his running went from strength to strength. Now living with a foster family near Hastings, he has the makings of an elite runner, with his sights set on a 2:30 marathon in Valencia this December and, before that, the trip to France to look forward to. The only person there who could compete with him was a girl training for the GB women’s eight heading for Rio.Unbeknown to young McAvoy, Tobin was a prolific armed robber and had just been released after 16 years in prison. But what advice can the reformed criminal give on how to deal with isolation in the current climate?

When the law caught up with him, David spent 18 months in a secure unit near Hastings, becoming one of the 52% of young people who grew up in care who go on to have a criminal conviction. Watching the news report the following night, a CCTV clip of Aaron inside the shop they were robbing, truly brought it home. ‘The camera froze, and I remember looking in Aaron’s eyes,’ says McAvoy. ‘Those were the most last moments of his life. He lost his life in the pursuit of money. He was the same age as me. He never reached his potential.’ McAvoy's father died before he was born with his mother's ex-husband, Billy Tobin, taking him under his wing when he was eight.She used to say 'you're an accident waiting to happen' and 'if you live your life in the fast lane you will crash and burn'. 'You'll end up how they all end up - living in a cage and going to prison.'" McAvoy is a regular speaker on prison reform and sport's power to help change lives I got up the next morning and I was completely lost. My reputation, my name, it was meaningless. I looked at myself in that prison cell. I had wasted my life up to that point, down the drain.