Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Endurance sports enthusiast to hit the Big Apple for one of the world’s largest marathons

by Ethos public relations

An 18-year-old fundraiser from Welling, who enjoys nothing more than pushing his fitness levels, is on a mission to raise £2,000 for Action For Kids in the world’s biggest marathon in New York this year.

Christopher Hughes, who is studying Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying at Loughborough University, is one of 20 runners taking part in the marathon on 7 November to help raise funds for the charity which supports children, young people and their families with physical and learning disabilities across the country.

“I have always been interested in endurance sports,” Christopher said. “And it is my ambition to do an endurance event for every year of my life.

“Taking part in the New York Marathon on behalf of Action For Kids, is the perfect opportunity for me to really put my fitness to the test, and to prepare, I’ve been doing 70 mile bike rides and recently cycled from London to Cardiff. I also run 10km, twice a week, and aim to complete the marathon in less than four hours.”

The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon with the course running through all five boroughs of New York City, and is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 43,659 finishers in 2009.

Sarah Greene, Events Fundraiser at Action for Kids, said: “It is fantastic to have Christopher and the whole team running for us. They have all set themselves fundraising targets and hope to raise as much as £30,000 for the charity, which is brilliant! We are truly grateful to everyone who is taking part.”

The marathon, organised by New York Road Runners (NYRR) has taken place every year since 1970. It is held on the first Sunday of November and attracts professional competitors and amateurs from all over the world. Because of the popularity of the race, participation is limited to 37,000 entrants chosen largely by a lottery system.

National charity Action For Kids, through its “Towards Independence” programmes, helps disabled children, young people and their families lead more independent lives through the provision of specialist services such as: training in independent living skills and work related learning; a family support service; a national help line and much more. The charity also provides disabled young people, up to the age of 26, with specialist mobility equipment, and an on-going maintenance program to keep wheelchairs working.

The equipment, which is provided on a permanent loan scheme, means that Action for Kids covers the cost of maintaining and servicing the wheelchairs on an ongoing basis, removing a major financial burden from families, the maintenance scheme has also recently been extended to cover privately-owned wheelchairs.

To sponsor Christopher, please visit his personal sponsorship page at
www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Hughes.

To sponsor the Action for Kids runners in the New York Marathon, please visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Newyorkrunners.

And for more information about the New York Marathon, please visit www.nycmarathon.org.

Posted at 18^th May 2010