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Richard Banks is raising money for The Matt Kendall Foundation

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Hello

I'm not a runner but much to my continuing surprise I've ended up running a 10K and two half marathon's in memory of my friend and marvellous human being Matt who sadly lost his life to cancer in 2015.

I'd never run in a race before Matt died or really, run longer than a few laps of the park but I've been on a real journey the last couple of years culminating now with my first full marathon in Brighton on Sunday 9th April. At the end of my first half I distinctly remember thinking how totally HORRENDOUS it would be to try and run the same distance again but here I am... needless to say I am furious with Matt because this is all his fault and he owes me £100 for the new trainers I've just had to buy.

So here's the reason I'm doing this bloody race - Matt was passionate about helping young people who otherwise might slip between the cracks and the 'The Matt Kendall Foundation' was set-up during Matt's last few weeks to do just that. The charity awards grants to young people 16-25 to help them into work, training or education.

I've been out training 3 to 4 times a week for what seems like 57 years and as the race approaches, I'm strangely excited yet I'll be honest, really terrified, about tackling 26.2 miles. Of course I'm going to try and raise some money for charity whilst doing this and if anyone can spare a few quid, I'd be so chuffed. I won't lie, training for this thing has been bloody hard and I'd like to make Matt proud by raising a bit of cash for him and his legacy.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Richard x