Those of you, who know me well, will know that I make furniture for a living.  One of my clients was Rosie Webber who died from lung cancer in June 2018, just 10 weeks after diagnosis. In her memory, and to raise money for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Rosie’s daughters, Kate and Beth, organised Run 4 Rosie, a 24 hour running event on the trails around Chagford, where Rosie and her family lived. The event took place in March 2019 on what would have been Rosie’s 69^th birthday.

Prior to Run 4 Rosie my longest run was a half marathon, but taking part in the event I ran 21 miles, with 600m of elevation (off road on Dartmoor). That was the day I knew I had a full marathon in my legs.  A few weeks later I went to London to watch the 2019 London Marathon and saw a bunch of runners zip past in Roy Castle vests. That sealed the deal; I decided to apply for the 2020 event!  

Just after I returned from London there was a presentation of the 4 foot long cardboard cheque (you know the kind of thing!) from the Run 4 Rosie team to Catherine and Amy from the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. The cheque was for a fantastic £13,227.00.  After the presentation I approached Catherine, and broached the subject of doing the marathon in 2020 for the charity. So, here I am.

But this is also part of a personal journey for me. 4 years ago I weighed 16 stone and was sedentary. I woke up every morning hearing stories on the radio about type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia. In my mid 50's, I was at best, a potential statistic, possibly worse.   I decided it was time to do something about it. 

From the first of January 2016 I began dieting and cycling, I introduced swimming  after a couple of months and running once I had got down to 13 stone. By the end of the year I'd completed my first short course triathlon and in 2019 I completed my first Ironman 70.3. My goal is to complete the full Ironman, a 140 mile event which includes a full marathon so this is an important waypoint for me.

I have now lost 4 stone, I'm literally 3/4 of the man I used to be and feel fantastic! I continue to be active every week, well except over Christmas when I’m a sloth like everybody else!

Please sign up and support me and RCLCF in my 2020 London Marathon campaign.

Thank you

Jon