I decided to run the half marathon on behalf of CRY for a young lad named Zac Taylor who came into my work (Barbers). He was such a bubbly lad and could guarantee to put a smile on your face with his crazy haircuts and stories. I was so saddened to hear that he had passed away so a few months down the line I planned to run this as a little sign of respect and to help with an amazing charity. I was overwhelmed with the support I got off friends and family coming up to my race I set up a JustGiving page and managed to raise £150 for the charity. I felt as if any amount is money towards an excellent charity!

I trained for a good 6-8 weeks before the race going on the roads before work early in the morning putting the miles in and also a bit of circuit training with my friends at the local Thai boxing gym where Zac had also done a bit of training. I wanted to make sure I had done enough prep for the race as I had set myself a target finish time. I thought that it was the least I could put myself through seeing as what Zac’s family had been through and it helped me push to the very end along with the support of my friends and family!

I set myself the target of 2 hours and managed to finish in 1:57:46! Hopefully I’m going to run a full marathon in the next year on behalf of CRY, thank you for the running pack and support to all families suffering.

Darren Jopson