Old School Mates: our marathon story

Meet four school friends who have come together to take on the marathon in memory of their friend, Craig. 

"Our mate from school, Craig Smith, who had Motor Neurone Disease and who was a big rugby player, was responsible for bringing a number of old friends back together as he wanted a reunion of his pals from school days in Halifax when he knew his condition was worsening.

Sadly Craig is no longer with us, having finally succumbed to this dreadful disease. The four of us were at school with Craig and we’re lucky enough to be turning 60 in the next 12 months.

We wanted to celebrate Craig's life by raising money for the Rob Burrows MND centre and running the Leeds marathon in its inaugural year. We may not be the fastest, but we're determined to cross that finish line in Craig's memory!

Three of us have never done a marathon before, but we reckoned, it’s never too late to give it a go. Craig’s experience, with parallels to Rob’s experience, has inspired us to be courageous and to train hard to give it our best shot.

The mantra of ‘run with a mate for a mate’ has really spurred us on.  The egging on we’ve been giving one another has stopped any of us from feeling too lonely on those longer runs.

So, with a combined age of 236, we’re going to give it a go. What we might not have in springy youthfulness, we reckon we more than make up for with pig-headed determination! We’re certainly putting in the hours and building up our stamina in training.

Dom’s a bit of an old hand, having done a few marathons already. Paul’s more of a mountain goat, with his determination to complete all the Lakeland Wainwrights.

Hil covers miles and miles every week with her dog. Whereas I’ve returned to running since lockdown, having thought my running days were over years ago.

We’re united by a shared sense of humour and a love for the sense of freedom and the natural high that running gives us – let’s see if we feel the same way after 26.2 miles on the 14^th of May!"

Good luck team, you're going to smash it!