Running 145 miles for Maggie's Cotswolds (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Running 145 miles for Maggie's Cotswolds

11:05am Monday 16th June 2008

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A RUNNER has raised hundreds of pounds for the Maggie's Cotswolds campaign by completing the longest non-stop race in the country - a staggering 145 miles.

Nick Lewis, a member of the Almost Athletics running team in Cheltenham, finished the Grand Union Canal Race, which runs from the centre of Birmingham to the centre of London and follows the Grand Union Canal, in 34 hours and 52 minutes.

"There was a huge sense of camaraderie in the race and everyone wanted everyone to finish."

Runner Nick Lewis

Out of the 75 starting runners only 29 made it to the finishing line and Nick, who works as a researcher for the University of Gloucestershire, recorded the ninth fastest time.

Nick said: "There was a huge sense of camaraderie in the race and everyone wanted everyone to finish.

"There were quite a lot of foreign runners as well, there were people from Sweden, Denmark and Finland so it had quite an international feel to it."

Nick was joined for the last 45 miles of the race by club teammates Michelle Laws, Ian Hughes and Nicki Perrott for moral support.

"That helped me immensely," he added. "The last five miles were pretty tough as the painkillers wore off and I was very emotional at the end because I had been focussed on it for such a long time."

Maggie's Cotswolds is the chosen charity of Almost Athletics this year and Nick, 32, said he was honoured to be raising money for the charity.

"I haven't had any direct experience with cancer in my family which I know is incredibly lucky," he said.

"Maggie's centres do a very important job helping people battle the disease so it's nice to be able to do something that will directly benefit people in Cheltenham and the surrounding area."

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