Site manager Chris Bennett was inspired to tackle the London Marathon to raise funds for a national cancer charity in memory of two relatives who died from the disease.
Chris, who is in charge of construction at Bellway’s Jubilee Green development off Watery Lane in Coventry, raised £4,500 for Cancer Research UK as a tribute to his family members.
The 32-year-old, who lives in Kingswinford, near Stourbridge, ran the marathon after a colleague pulled out of training for the event.
Chris said: “This place came available in July and the company put out an email asking if anyone wanted to take on the challenge in aid of Cancer Research UK – Bellway’s nominated charity. I jumped at the chance because I had never run a marathon before and I wanted to dedicate the run to my relatives who died from cancer.”
Chris, a former personal training instructor in the Royal Engineers who joined Bellway three years ago, undertook training runs three nights a week and hit the gym on the other days.
“I have always been fit but had never taken on long runs of any description really. I like a challenge and it was that – a chance to test myself and to raise money for a great cause at the same time. I raised £1,500 and Bellway generously matched that twice over by donating £3,000, meaning that I hit a fundraising total of £4,500.”
Chris is happy with the total money he raised but was less satisfied with his finishing time of four hours and 30 minutes.
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“I had a brilliant time on the day and really enjoyed the atmosphere, the course itself, the camaraderie of the runners and the support of the crowd. I even had time to take a selfie as I ran over London Bridge,” he said. “Everything was great except my time. I have got a place in next year’s marathon where I want to go faster and to raise more money for the charity.”
Bellway is aiming to raise £3 million for Cancer Research UK nationally by the end of 2023 as part of its ‘3 for 23’ campaign.
Elaine Brown, Sales Director at Bellway South Midlands, said: “It seems that everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer and sadly, Chris is an example of that. We are all incredibly impressed and proud of his determination despite only having a couple of months to prepare for the marathon.
“As a company, we are committed to our ambition to raise £3m for Cancer Research UK by 2023 and to support them in the incredible work that they do which includes trying to find a cure for this terrible disease. We are proud of the continuing efforts of people like Chris and hope that he can inspire his colleagues to ensure we hit our target in 2023.”
