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John battles severe weather to complete Blackpool Half Marathon
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Midshire Northern engineer John Starkey completed a tough Blackpool half marathon on Sunday 22nd February.
John ran the half marathon to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, after a friend, Gillian Levick suffered from cancer and sadly passed away in October 2014. Macmillan works with sufferers and their families in a huge number of ways, such as providing nursing support, to help and advice. Macmillan nurses helped over 650,000 people in 2013.
John said,
‘I decided back in November that I was going to donate towards Gillian’s chosen charity Macmillan.’
This isn’t the first endurance event John has completed. Last year John took on the Greater Manchester marathon in aid of Zoe’s Place, a children’s charity.
John’s preparation to the event has been held back recently, with injury and illness preventing training within the last few weeks. A pulled calf, and nerve damage in the back hindered training considerably, but this didn’t stop John from getting out and running on the day.
Sharp Business Systems and Midshire sponsored John and his run. Midshire helped to create the running top John wore on the day, while Sharp donated £500 to the cause.
John completed in half marathon in an impressive 2 hours and 7 minutes. The running conditions were challenging to say the least! Torrential wind and rain made the run particularly difficult.
‘The conditions were the worst I’ve walked in, never mind run. The last 3 miles into the head wind and rain did push me to the edge. It was tougher than last year’s marathon.’
At the moment, John is just £100 shy of his £1,000 target. Help John reach his target after an incredibly tough challenge.
To donate to Macmillan Cancer Support, follow this link to John’s justgiving page.
