Magnificent fundraiser Mat’s 500-mile challenge
Final chance to grab Nos Galan spot
A VALLEYS man renowned for his extraordinary charity efforts where he runs marathons day after day is at it again.
And he’s upped ante even further.
Fundraiser Mat Gilliard, 35, from Aberdare, will rack up 500 miles during October, in his bid to raise money for charities Ty Hafan, Mind, BAWSO and The Dyspraxia Foundation.
He will run the number of miles according to the day of the month, starting with one mile on the first day, two on the second, and the number will increase by a mile each day.
That would see him run 496 miles, so to make the total for the month a round 500, Mat will run 35 miles on October 31.
The Cynon Valley man is no stranger to gruelling running challenges.
In November 2013, he ran from his Aberaman home to his workplace in Cardiff, completing five marathons in five days in the process.
A year later he covered seven marathons in seven days , and in October 2015 he upped that to 10 marathons in 12 days .
But, 13 days into his latest, longest challenge, Mat says the enormity of his task is beginning to hit home.
He said: “At the moment I am feeling a bit like maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew.
“I need to remember that it is not about the speed I do the miles in it is the fact I am doing them that matters the most.
“But it is hard to remember that some days. the
“So far it doesn’t seem too different [from his previous challenges], but I am only up to 13 miles as of today, and it still feels achievable.
“But I have pushed myself in my other running challenges and have come out the other side, knowing that the doubt I felt at one point or another was misguided.”
And, with the prospect of running further than a marathon a day for the last five days, Mat said he has no idea how he’ll fare as October draws to a close.
He added: “I have completed many different challenges that I have set myself, and have felt like I wanted to quit go home and cry to myself in bed for a week, but I haven’t.
“I think I will power on, even if the last part of the final 35 miles sees me crawling I will get it done.”
To donate to Mat’s cause, visit www. justgiving.com/teams/ MatsScorpion . THE final 75 places in the Nos Galan Road Races in Mountain Ash were due to become available on Wednesday morning.
The annual New Year’s Eve event – which sees runners of all abilities visit the Cynon Valley town from far and wide – has seen unprecedented demand in 2016, and there are plans in the pipeline to expand its capacity from 2018.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council and the Nos Galan committee have announced that 50 ad- ditional adult fun run places, and 25 more elite race entries, were due to be released from 10am on Wednesday – the final chance for participants to secure a place in the event. There are still limited spaces available in the children’s fun run.
The Nos Galan fun starts in Mountain Ash town centre at 4pm on December 31 with the first of the children’s races, before the elite race and the adult 5k fun run.
To be a part of the 2016 Nos Galan Road Races register online at www. nosgalan.co.uk