Marathon man hoping to erase his egg and spoon nightmare

THE London Marathon will be the first race Peter Pedlow has taken part in since the egg and spoon race at Carrick Primary School.

On that occasion he finished last. He’s hoping for a better result on Sunday, April 17.

Lurgan man Peter turned 30 this year and decided the milestone merited him setting himself an extreme challenge.

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He said: “I have always had an ambition to complete some kind of bigger challenge in life for charity ever since I completed a parachute jump in 1999 for Children In Need.

“So as I approached, what I viewed to be the rather large milestone that is 30 years of age, I felt a huge urge to do some sort of extreme challenge.

“I had always thought of completing a marathon as one of life’s great ‘must dos’ and settled on this idea, but since I hadn’t ran in an actual race since the egg and spoon in primary school - in which I came last - I wasn’t quite sure how clever this was.”

The former Carrick, Lurgan Junior High and Lurgan College pupil is sales manager for Volkswagen at Donnelly Groups based in Newtownabbey.

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He continued: “I decided if I was going to run a marathon I’d aim for the biggest there is - London - and then decided upon a charity.

“For me this was quite an easy decision - Action Cancer. I have a couple of good friends and family members who have been touched by cancer and I chose them because they are a cancer charity that are based solely in Northern Ireland and every penny that I raise will be used to provide services for people within my local community.

“I’m sure everyone knows somebody who has been affected by cancer and the support provided by this local charity helps to save so many lives.”

Peter, who has two sons - Jack (5) and Ross (3) - is training four days a week.

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He said: “Three of those training sessions are in the morning time before work. I’m in the gym for 6.30am and I run six or seven miles. At the weekend I do a longer run on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. I’m up to 13 miles at the minute.”

He continued: “I bought this book which has been very insightful. It’s specifically for non-runners who want to run a marathon. It teaches you to keep going even when you feel you have nothing left.

“Initially I just wanted to finish but now I’ve set myself the goal of finishing in under five hours.”

Action Cancer is Northern Ireland’s leading local cancer charity and must raise £3.2 million annually to sustain its lifesaving services.

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Its services include early detection breast screening clinics, a mobile screening unit – the Big Bus, health promotion for workplaces, community groups and schools, campaigning, grants for local research projects, counselling and complementary therapy for people and children living with cancer and their families.

Event organiser Lucy McCusker commented: “Training to take part in the London Marathon is a fantastic way for Peter to fulfil the challenge of a lifetime whilst also raising money for a local charity Action Cancer.

“Unfortunately one out of three people in Northern Ireland are affected by cancer and it is so good to see someone like Peter helping us to continue to save lives and support people across the province.

“If you enjoy running or you simply want a new challenge then signing up to take part in any of our half marathons or other events is a great way to help us raise and make a difference in 2011.”

To help Peter raise money for a good cause go to justgiving.com/peter-pedlow