Richard Runs Yorkshire Coast after Battle with Health

Richard is running the Yorkshire Coast 10K after running for nearly 50 years. 

His introduction to running was a harsh one, running the Exmoor in 1973 while at school. A compulsory race for students at West Buckland, the senior race is 10 miles, deeming it one of the toughest races in any UK independent school.

However, the impression must have stuck, as he has continued to run every since. He took part in the Great North Run in 1981, in which local hero Kevin Keegan beat him by ten minutes.

"Call it inspiration, call it jealousy, but it was the start of multiple long-distance races."

After moving to South Africa in 1982, Richard took part in his first marathon, then deciding to take part in the Comrades Marathon in 1983 soon after, a whopping 89km in total.

"The camaraderie amongst fellow club runners was immense, building up to weekly distances of 130km for five consecutive months before the race, learning of each other's inner most secrets!"

But, Richard made a sudden shift to body building in 1986, doing very little running amongst his training.

Several years later, Richard returned to England in 1997 with a body building championship win under his belt. He joined the Morpeth Harriers upon his return, helping him to get his running back on track, and allowing him to settle into a country that he hardly recognised.

However, Richard has unfortunately been knocked back by numerous injuries and medical problems in the following years. He had a battle with stage 3 cancer in 2016, which he is now fortunately clear of, and had a full pancreatectomy earlier this year, after which he became diabetic.

"Has that stopped me? Has it heck!"

Richard hasn't let his struggles stop him from running, so he decided to sign up for the Yorkshire Coast 10K to get back to running, and persuades those with their own medical problems to do the same.

"To those people who are thinking about running and have a medical condition - go out there and embrace it."