Saints fan Neil Marsh and his girlfriend Nicola Dean completed the Great North Run last September and raised a magnificent £312 in the process. Neil explains why he was motivated to raise funds and awareness of the SPF:-
‘My girlfriend and I have been into our fitness and running for a number of years. We enjoy giving ourselves set challenges as we find this gives us that bit of a push needed to keep ourselves training in all weathers, preparing ourselves for whatever run we have entered.
I have been a St. Helens rugby league fan since a boy and have enjoyed many years watching them play, and watching Steve Prescott playing for my beloved team. He was one of my favourite players, and truly inspirational to watch on the field. This inspiration stayed with Steve in his determination to beat his illness, pushing himself in the number of challenges he took part in. This inspiration and courage is the reason why I wanted to raise money for the Steve Prescott Foundation. Nicola saw how much it meant to me and upon reading and seeing for herself the number of things Steve achieved she felt that this was a great Foundation to raise money for.
It was really, hard work training for the Great North Run. The hardest part we found was trying to fit our training in around work and our other commitments. Most times it was enjoyable, but there were a few times when training that you do think. "why are we putting ourselves through this?" It is at these times you reflect on why you are actually doing it and that for us makes it worthwhile.
On the day of the race, the weather was on our side and it was a lovely sunny September day, with no wind or rain; perfect running weather. The run is really well organised and we set off with the other 57.000 participants for a fantastic run. We completed the run in 1 hour 52 minutes. We were aiming for less than 2 hours so more than happy with the time we achieved.’’
Massive congratulations to Neil and Nicola for achieving your goal and thank you for choosing the SPF as your nominated charity #TeamPrecky