Best Foot Forward for RedTree MD

I am sure there are lots of analogies that can be made between running a marathon and running your own business, and, in what may prove to be a moment of madness, in 2019 I decided to do both.

So, over the last 6 months, I have been pounding the streets of Nottingham doing my best to get myself marathon ready. Yes, following on from the success of Fat Boy Swims in 2013 in which I completed the Great North Swim to fundraise for Mencap, 2019 saw the launch of Fat Boy Runs!

What am I up to? Well, following the birth of my son in January 2019 I started doing a little jog around the block. Then, spurred on by watching the London Marathon and upon finding out that Mencap are the headline sponsor for 2020…I decided to run the London Marathon 2020.

I applied, I got a place with #TeamMencap and now I am going to do it. Yes, the fat kid, the former tighthead prop, the guy with the body built for comfort not for speed and who has previously been told by medical professionals that running a marathon would be a silly thing to do, is going to run the London Marathon.

Not only that, in order to help me reach my £2,000 fundraising goal, I decided to make things a bit more adventurous and have taken part in two ‘warm up’ events in the run up to The London Marathon – The Manchester Half Marathon and the Kegworth Turkey Trot. I am now training hard for my third event, the Ashby Twenty and then I’m London bound at the end of April.

Manchester_Half_Marathon_2019_6275279 copy

IMG_3891

So, all in all, I am doing a whole load of running to help raise money for Mencap.

Why?  I’ve chosen Mencap in recognition of the amazing work they do for people like my uncle Peter. My uncle Peter was born with PKU which went undiagnosed and left him with brain damage.

Being a dad myself now, I can’t begin to imagine what my Grandma and Grandad and the rest of the family went through back in the 60s trying to gain an accurate assessment of Pete’s condition and subsequently providing for his needs over their lifetime.

IMG_0668

 

With the mindset that a bit of running can’t possibly be as hard as anything my uncle Peter, my Grandma and Grandad and other families which Mencap support go through, I am putting my running shoes on.

Any support you can give to help me in reaching my fundraising target would be hugely appreciated. Donations can be made through my Just Giving page, Fat Boy Runs. Look out for my training updates on my Instagram account – ChrisMitchell_RTPR.

Thanks for your support!