Running the Sunderland 10k for the British Heart Foundation is something that I am proud to be doing as it’s a cause that is very close to home for me. A member of the gym, Colin, and I will be running together in a bid to raise funds for the BHF.

Colin is 78 and I’m 30. We met last year (2023) when I started running an ‘Over 65s’ exercise class named ‘Silver Shoes’. This class was originally started for my grandparents who were becoming more sedentary and starting to struggle with their balance, mobility and most importantly their confidence to be able to do seemingly simple day to day activities.

I knew that I wanted to prove what many studies before me had shown; that resistance training can benefit anyone of any age.

After a few weeks of trial sessions with my grandparents, the Silver Shoes class was born! It’s been running for just under a year now, with 4 regular members all claiming that it’s changed their life for the better.

It just goes to show that it’s never too late to start or to make a change!

The main man himself, Colin, is a young 78 man. He has kept himself active by walking and sticking to a morning mobility routine for some time now.

Driven and determined, he is not happy with just maintaining. He trains 5 days a week and arrives at the gym 45 minutes before his class to start training through his own mobility routine and pre-session movement drills before each Silver Shoes session.

Since starting, he has pushed himself to achieve more and more; setting and smashing goals time and again. For example, he wanted to deadlift his age for 10 reps and so in 6 months he went from deadlifting 30kg to 80kg for 10 reps! For those not in the know about strength training, this is an impressive feat for a man who’d never deadlifted in his life!

When Colin first mentioned the Sunderland 10km, I thought he had said it tongue in cheek. The more we thought about it, the more achievable it became. So here we are, we’ve entered the Sunderland 10km, started a 12-week running programme and we’re going to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, BOSH!

The British Heart Foundation holds a special place for me and Colin. After my dad had a heart attack last year while training for the Great North Run (ironically, he was running for the BHF after my aunty was diagnosed with heart disease). I took his number on 2 weeks’ notice and completed the run. Thanks to the work that charities like the British Heart Foundation do, people like my dad are still around leading normal lives!

Words from Colin “Following my wife's (Audrey) death just over a year ago, I had been struggling in a number of ways to fill my days in.

Then in April last year I received a FaceTime call from my grandson Matthew from California (USA) who told me an old friend had opened a Gym near where I lived which had sessions specially for elderly people. I went along meet with Joe and joined the group "Silver Shoes"

Although I felt I had been reasonably fit for my age prior to joining I've since made massive strides in my fitness levels. Not only that I've made a lot of new friends, doing something I enjoy and now filling my day in actively.

I'm always up for a new challenge so I've now joined up with Joe to take part in the Sunderland 10km road run in May of this year. Also, with Joe we have decided it would be a good idea to run for a charity and think BHF would be appropriate. I've not been involved with this charity before but felt it would get Audrey's approval and support if she were here.”

Please donate what you can! I know how much it will mean to both Colin and I and we’re both now excited and pushing hard in the prep leading up to race day!

Thanks for visiting my page. I'm raising money for the British Heart Foundation and I'd be so grateful for your support. The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives. It's only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures. £24 could pay for two hours of research by an early career scientist, but every pound helps so please give what you can to help me hit my target. Thanks!