A RUNNER from Melksham donned his green morph suit and joined nearly 40,000 people taking part in the London Marathon last weekend.
Robbie Newton was bitten by the marathon bug last year after running the race for the first time. This year, despite running the 26.2 miles in a green morph suit, Robbie beat last year’s race time by eight minutes.
Robbie, who has so far raised just over £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support, said he loved every minute of the race.
“Because I ran last year, I was partially prepared. Although, I did find it tough going in the same place as last year, which was near Canary Wharf, but the crowd pulled me through,” Robbie said.
“I’m very pleased with my time of 4 hours 32 minutes and 5 seconds – to beat last year whilst wearing a morph suit makes me very happy!
“I did have a few pre-race nerves but as soon as I got going it was fine. It did get a bit emotional as I crossed the finish line, it was almost four years to the day that my friend died of testicular cancer and also only a few weeks ago my fiancee’s mother passed away. I decided to wear a black armband to show my respect.
“The atmosphere on the day was amazing. Any time I was struggling, I just had to look around me and the crowd really pull you through. Even more so with the Macmillan Cancer Support cheering teams, they gave me so much support.
“My mum, dad and my fiancee Kat came along to support me and I was chosen to take part in the “Buxton Memory Walk” which meant I was able to run a 80m stretch of the marathon with Kat, which was a really nice touch.
“I will be entering the ballot again for next year, so hopefully I’ll be able to do it all again!”
