The Challenge

About Will:
Whilst working out in San Francisco in 2006/07 and with no previous long distance running experience, Will signed himself up for the San Francisco marathon.  Despite any training or preparation - he made it around in one piece in a time of 5:58:41 raising around £2500 for Breast Cancer Campaign and The National Aids Foundation which would not have been possible without the generous support of friends and family around the world.  Now Will has decided that he wants to try again, and again, and again!

Will's Marathon Challenge:
In preparation for a much bigger goal, Will is planning to take part in the following:

• London Half Marathon, 26th September 2010
• New York Marathon, 7th November 2010*
• Eton or Brighton Half Marathon (TBC), 20th February 2011
• Reading Half Marathon, 20th March 2011
• London Marathon, 17th April 2011
• Edinburgh Marathon, May 22nd 2011

*The New York Marathon is what triggered this whole event.  It marks the 1st anniversary of Will’s mother, Lennie, who lost her long and courageous battle on the 7th November 2009.  With his father, Raymond and girlfriend, Meg as support on race day - WIll hopes that this will provide a distraction on this otherwise difficult day.


So what is the "challenge" part?
Well Will got around the hills in San Francisco in 5:58:41 - granted that is not going to scare of the likes of James Cracknell (see signed photo below), but here is the challenge.  Will aims to knock off 3/4 of an hour for the NY marathon making it around in under 5:13:41 - and then a further half-hour for the London marathon making it around in under 4:43:41; and provided all is well, a further 1/4 of an hour for the Edinburgh Marathon making it sub 4.5 hours. That would mean shaving a total of 1.5 hours of Will's current personal best for 26.2 miles in only nine months.

I am so happy to hear that James Cracknell is back in the UK
and with his family after his terrible accident in the USA.
Read this amazing article about his struggle to recovery

The Ultimate Challenge:
Now according to therunnersguide.com when training for a marathon you can expect to clock over 950 miles.  So with that in mind and the distance of each race, Will should be clocking up somewhere in the region of 4,500 and 4,700 miles!  That is about the equivalent of running from London to Nepal - which coincidently gives us a clue for Will’s ultimate challenge, a lifelong dream of his, which he hopes to complete before 31/12/2015 – news on this coming soon.