A MAN from Melksham will be running the London Marathon this April to raise money for Meningitis Now in memory of Keiren Edney who died suddenly last year from meningitis.
Leigh Rogers was asked by friends Robyn and Estelle Edney to dust off his trainers and sign up for the marathon to raise money for Meningitis Now. The sisters are trying to raise awareness and funds for the charity following the sudden death of their 21 year-old brother Keiren in September last year.
Leigh said, “I ran the London Marathon in 2014 in memory of my uncle and fundraised for Dorothy House Hospice Care – it was without doubt the hardest thing I have ever endured, but at the same time the most satisfying feeling.
“My training has been rather stop/ start at the moment; I applied for a charity place with Meningitis Now nearly 10 weeks late and thankfully they’ve managed to squeeze me in, so I am already 10 weeks behind training as it is! Over Christmas/New Year I have tried to really step up the mileage out on the roads. Over the next eight weeks I want to be steadily progressing and by the end of February I would like to be comfortably running 16 miles at a good pace. March will involve running the Bath Half Marathon as preparation for the London Marathon a month later, as well as getting a 20 mile training run under my belt before winding down before the big event! At the present time the balance between fundraising and training is proving difficult. I know it is going to be a huge challenge but I know that hopefully come April 23rd, it will all be worth it for an amazing cause.
“The moment Robyn and Estelle come up with the idea, I wanted to be involved, I would like to do everything I can possibly do to raise awareness of meningitis. Although I can’t say I was particularly close to Keiren, I am good friends with Robyn and Estelle and running in memory of their brother will be very special.
“It’s an iconic event and I couldn’t think of a better reason to run it. In just under four weeks I have raised £1013.75 – this is absolutely remarkable and says a huge amount about Keiren. I would like to think that we will smash the £2,000 target, we have a number of fundraisers in place between now and April that will bump this figure up.
“Coming up first is our New Year’s Raffle which takes place on 20th January at Cooper Tires. We have over 30 prizes which have been donated by local businesses and I must say they are excellent prizes. I will be selling raffle tickets right up until the 20th of January.”
You can contact Leigh on 07881 296144 or leighrogers8@hotmail. co.uk to buy tickets or to donate a prize. To sponsor Leigh, visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/show FundraiserProfilePage.action?user Url=leighrogers
