The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
I don’t bear-lieve my eyes
GET used to the sight of a gorilla and a man-sized teddy bear jogging through the streets over the next few weeks.
Don’t be alarmed - they are just a pair of friends preparing to don the heavy mascot suits for their debut marathon in London on April 22.
As if running the 26.2 miles itself was not enough, Darren Wharton and Dave Bond are going to put on the 15lb suits in the hope it will help them raise more money for their respective children’s charities.
The pair are both from Stanground, and are planning 10 to 17 mile runs around the city in full attire before the main event next month.
Darren (34) is running as the bright pink teddy bear from Toy Story, Lots-oHugging, while Dave (27) is running as a gorilla.
Darren, who lives in South Street, said: “I chose the Toy Story costume because I am running for the children’s charity Little Miracles.
“It’s much harder to run in the suit, but I am really looking forward to doing the marathon wearing it.
“I bought the suit online for £125 and I am doing the training every other day wearing the suit.
“As I have been running around Peterborough people have been looking, pointing and saying hello.
“The suit weighs about 151bs and it is definitely harder to run wearing it. You sweat a lot and then have to hand wash the suit.”
Dave, from Chapel Street, Stanground, bought his gorilla suit online for £30.
He said: “We just wanted to spice things up a little bit.
“Hopefully it will provide some entertainment for the people watching and a challenge for us.
“We have been wearing the suits while training and we get a lot of comments and weird looks.
“It does get hot, but you expect that anyway - you are going to be running 26 miles.”
Although this will be both Darren and Dave’s first full marathons, the pair both completed the Newcastle and Great Eastern Run half marathons last year.
Darren is running to raise money for Little Miracles after he benefited from their help after his son Connor (6) was diagnosed with dyspraxia and ADHD last month.
Little Miracles is a Peterborough based support group for families with children that have disabilities.
Darren said: “They have helped me so much.
“I wouldn’t have known what to do, but they have given us a lot of information about ways to handle the situation and also a lot of advice.
“Little Miracles just happened to fall into my lap at the right time.
“I am hoping Connor will come down to watch me, and he wants to be on the finishing line.”
Meanwhile, Dave is running for Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied (Phab) Kids.
The charity help put on events that bring together disabled and non-disabled children.
Dave added: “I applied first and then started looking for a good cause.
“I heard about the good work the charity does and also that they rely quite heavily on donations.
“They are a good cause and I hope to raise a lot of money for them.”
Darren has asked for all sponsorship pledges to be made on www.localgiving.com/littlemiracles, while you can donate to David on www.virginmoneygiving.com/davidbond.