WITH just four days to go until England’s biggest footrace, a number of Westbury runners are donning the lycra and trainers to squeeze in a final practise before the big day.
The Virgin Money London Marathon 2015 takes place this Sunday 26th April, and four local runners – Bryan Parkinson, Sam Duggins, Diane Hier and Robin Schols – will be joining thousands of other athletes on the streets of the capital.
Bryan Parkinson, a retired teacher from Bratton, will be running the marathon exactly 30 years after his debut race in 1985. He has set a target time of between four and a half and five hours; his personal best time is three and half.
He will be raising money for local charity Chernobyl Children in Need, and has already raised £2,357.
Bryan said, “I feel a great connection with CCIN because, when I worked for the military in Germany, we sometimes hosted child victims of Chernobyl when they came over for a holiday.
“I don’t expect to be breaking any records! My training has been hindered by tendinitis, but thanks to excellent physio from Kay Pearce at Maristow Chiropractic Clinic, I hope to complete the course.”
To help Bryan’s fundraising effort visit www.justgiving.com/BryanParkinson-CCIN.
Thirty-year-old sales manager Sam Duggins will be running the London Marathon for the first time, after years of unsuccessful applications. He is an experienced runner and has completed a number of marathons, the Imber Ultramarathon, and the Ironman 70.3 long distance triathlon.
Sam will be raising money for the Dogs Trust and has set himself a target time of below four hours.
He said, “I’d be ecstatic with a time under 3:45! I’ve applied for the race five years running and never got in, but this year I won a place in a competition with Virgin.
“My training has gone well; I had a knee operation just over a year ago and thought i’d never run long distance again.
My regime doesn’t involve anything in particular, and I’m strange in that I don’t eat before long runs and can go quite far without water. Being happy is the best regime, oh and a hot bath afterwards! My favourite distance is the distance at which I start to hurt.
“I’m super excited about the race but nervous about the logistics. Once I’m there and stood on the start line I’ll be in the zone with nothing to worry about except whether or not I’m going to finish the race with all my toenails intact.
“I’m fundraising for the Dogs Trust because I, and pretty much everybody I know has a dog, so I know it’s a charity well thought of. I like to think of dogs being cared for as much as possible, as some of them don’t get the best start in life.”
Sam has so fair raised £192 for the Dogs Trust. You can sponsor him at www.virginmoneygiving.com/SamDuggins
Diane Hier, 53 and a member of local club Avon Valley Runners, will be running the London Marathon for the 14th time this year.
Diane said, “I am really looking forward to racing as the marathon is such a special event! The spectators come to watch and line almost all of the route, which is so exciting.
“A large crowd from Avon Valley Runners are coming to support the runners, so I know they will give us a loud cheer as we pass them by.
“My training has gone very well, and I am hoping to finish the course in about three and a quarter hours.”
Robin Schols, also a member of Avon Valley Runners, is looking forward to taking part in his second consecutive London Marathon. A keen runner Robin, 52, is keen to improve on last year’s race which didn’t quite go to plan after an inadvertent trip sent him to the ground at mile 14.
Since then, this year’s London Marathon has become his ‘A’ race. He hopes to complete the marathon in under three hours; a feat he believes he was on track for before his fall last year.
Robin said, “My training has been going very well, and I’ve beaten personal bests at this year’s Bath Half Marathon, Chichester 10k, and The Bramley 20 mile races, which were all part of my training schedule.
“London is a great spectacle and I’d tried to get in via the ballot a number of times, but in the end I got in last year with a time good enough based on my performance within my age group.
“Naturally last year’s time was disappointing but hopefully the training will pay off this year.”
The Virgin Money London Marathon will start just after 10am in Greenwich, and will be shown on BBC1.
