A St Elizabeth Hospice supporter is eagerly awaiting the Larking Gowen Ipswich Half Marathon on Sunday 21st September.
Ian Old, of Ipswich, set himself the challenge of running four half marathons in 2014, and the Larking Gowen Ipswich Half Marathon this weekend is the final race on his list.
Mr Old took on the Stowmarket Half Marathon in March, the Run Hackney Half Marathon in June and the Great North Run earlier this month. To make the challenge even more difficult, he set himself the additional task of completing each of the races in less than one hour fifty minutes.
Ian said “I caught the running bug after the London 2012 Olympic Games, and decided at the start of 2014 to set myself a new challenge, so I came up with the idea of the half marathon quartet.
“As Ipswich is my home town, I’m thrilled to be finishing my challenge here. Supporting St Elizabeth Hospice was an easy choice, as I strongly believe in supporting the local community.
“The challenge became even more personal when my fiancé’s grandfather, Pat Goddard, lost his battle with prostate cancer just a few days before the second of my half marathons. As he had benefited so greatly from the care provided by the Hospice, I decided to dedicate the entire challenge to his memory.”
St Elizabeth Hospice is one of the official charity partners of the Larking Gowen Ipswich Half Marathon. Last year, runners raised more than £7,000 for the local charity.
Sarah Archer, Fundraising Partnerships Manager at St Elizabeth Hospice, said “Ian has set himself a fantastic challenge, and I wish him and all our other Ipswich Half Marathon runners the very best of luck. If you’ve already got a place and haven’t decided who to raise money for, it’d be brilliant if you could help us smash last year’s total.”
Registration closes at midnight on Thursday 18th September – visit www.ipswichhalfmarathon.com to sign up.
If you’d like to sponsor Ian, you can visit his St Elizabeth Hospice Giving page at http://giving.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/ians-half-marathon-quartet-2014/.