A massive thank you to Gary Wickett, who completed 50 running challenges last year to raise money for Meningitis Now
The personal trainer from Solihull completed four marathons, 17 half marathons, 10 obstacle courses and a combination of 19 trail runs and 10ks.
34-year-old Gary, who featured in one of our blogs in March 2017, was inspired to take on these challenges after seeing his friend’s little boy Liam fight back against meningitis after falling ill in 2010.
The toughest challenge Gary faced was a 24hr team event - a cross-country trail run taking place from 12pm to 12pm the following day. He entered the race with his running club, with the team taking it in turns to run laps. The great British weather made the whole experience a little more challenging - but the relentless rain didn’t dampen spirits!
For the whole of 2017 Gary took part in an average of one running challenge a week, and sometimes more. A particularly busy weekend included a trail run on Saturday, a 10k on Sunday morning and an eight-mile run on Sunday afternoon!
Gary hasn’t been put off by the hectic running schedule of last year though - he’s signed up to do a solo 24hr running challenge, a 100-mile cycle, and is hoping to get a place in the London Marathon next year.
Gary shared his top tips for anyone thinking about taking on a running challenge, saying, “Enjoy it and don’t take it too seriously!”
“Everyone taking part has a story to tell, and you get chatting and get to know people as you go around the course.”
“It doesn’t matter where you finish, just enjoy it – and remember to wear decent trainers!”
Gary has so far raised a fantastic £3,550, which will help Meningitis Now move closer to our vision of a future where no one in the UK loses their life to meningitis and everyone affected gets the support they need to rebuild their lives.
You can read more about Gary's story here; to show your support, visit Gary's JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/meningitisnow-garywickett
