- rradar
The Marathon Man
Updated: Feb 16
In this blog, we're speaking with our very own Marathon Man - Joshua Littlefield. Josh has done a half marathon for our partner charity Downright Special so far and has another half marathon run on his agenda on the 24th of June.
With the date approaching soon, we spoke with Josh to find out more about his motivation and training so far!
Josh said:
"I have always been inspired to raise money for charities, hearing the stories of whom I would be supporting and so I thought, maybe this year, I should be the one to raise money for a chosen charity.
I wanted to raise money for a specific charity which I knew would sincerely appreciate all the efforts involved, for that charity to be local and most importantly, for that charity to have a story that resonated with me. My first and only thought that came to mind was rradar’s partnered charity, Downright Special.
After hearing that Downright Special are a local charity (Hull) that supports children with Down Syndrome, it was their aim which made me - without due hesitation - want to raise money for them. Their aim is to build a brighter future for children with Down syndrome, supporting them to achieve their full potential and promoting successful inclusion in all aspects of life.
My next idea was twofold – raise as much money as I could and also challenge myself. Therefore, the only rational conclusion was to run two half marathons in June 2018.
I have been training since early May. Bear in mind that before the training, I could barely run for 10 minutes on a treadmill! After many hours running on a treadmill, I had finally plucked up the courage to start running on the streets of Hull. My experience so far of training for the two half marathons has been tough and it has been challenging to push myself on a daily basis to keep going and better myself. Only recently, I injured my knee whilst training which was worrisome; nevertheless, after some rest, I am back on course!
My usual route is alongside the foreshore from Hessle to North Ferriby (as it is more picturesque than inside a gym). As this is my first competitive run, I am filled with anticipation, but after getting insight from those who have competed before, I hope that both events will be enjoyable. The time I want to complete each half marathon is under 2 hours.
If anyone was contemplating running a half marathon, I would say do it! It’s a great way to raise awareness of your chosen charity but also to complete something that many think about doing but never do!
I am looking forward to raising as much awareness and money for Downright Special as I can and I hope the support continues.
So far, we have raised over £350. All this support is incredible and is greatly appreciated not only by me, but also by the charity – please keep sharing and donating!"
If you would like to support Josh on his journey, please visit his JustGiving page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/j-littlefield
