Marathon man to take on ‘strange’ challenge
AFTER completing just one marathon, a young Macclesfield sales manager has now been inspired to sign up for ‘the world’s strangest marathon’.
Jamie Bennett, 26, will be raising funds for East Cheshire Hospice by running in North Korea next April in the Pyongyang Marathon.
One thousand foreign runners are expected to take part in the Korean running event, which has been held in the capital city for 35 years although it’s only been open to foreign runners since 2014.
Jamie was inspired to tackle his running challenges following the death of his mother Anne in January.
He said: “I couldn’t get over how much care and respect she received from everyone at East Cheshire Hospice, who all made her end of life experience as content as it could be.
“It really struck a chord with me and I wanted to do something to reflect how incredibly grateful I and my family are towards all the staff there and challenging myself to do something physically exerting seemed the right thing do.”
Jamie ran his first ever marathon in Barcelona just nine weeks after his mum died, raising an astounding £9,248.50 for the hospice and earning him the accolade of being able to say he paid for a day of care for the whole hospice.
Hospice events assistant Kate Lawson says that with daily running costs of £7,500 per day, their fundraising has been given a tremendous boost by Jamie’s efforts.
Kate said: “More than 80 per cent of our running costs are met by donations and we rely so heavily on people like Jamie to help.
“Not sure running through North Korea is everyone’s cup of tea but we are very proud of Jamie and all our other supporters who sometimes put themselves through challenges to raise much-needed funds.”