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Blog: “I am most looking forward to the atmosphere"

The Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 takes place on Sunday 28 April, and this year Activity Alliance will have 24 runners pounding the streets. This year’s team are once again a variety of experienced and novice marathon runners. Chris Hewitson will be one of our fundraisers tackling the 26.2 mile course. He tells us what running his first marathon means to him and why he enjoys fundraising so much. 

Chris Hewitson at Reading Half Marathon 2019 wearing Activity Alliance running vest

Hi my name is Chris, I’m 33 years old and I’m a Business Support Consultant for Nationwide. I'm running my first ever marathon this Sunday, and it is also the first time I am fundraising for Activity Alliance - I am really looking forward to it.

I got into running to keep myself both physically and mentally fit. I have diabetes, so health has been a massive motivation for me to be more active. Mental health has also been a big motivation and running is that activity that helps to clear my head and keeps me focussed – especially through more difficult times.

I also really enjoy fundraising as it gives me the opportunity to bring everyone together to raise money for great causes. I'm fundraising for Activity Alliance because of the great work the national charity does. I found about Activity Alliance and its work through Nationwide. The more I get to know, the happier and honoured I am to be running for such a great charity.

Running is really important to me - it gives me freedom to go anywhere, and this is what I love most about it. Also, the amount of running I am currently doing means I can eat more food. This is a win, win for me!

My training for the Virgin Money London Marathon has gone okay. The support from family and friends has been massively important to me. I am also part of a Facebook group and their support has been really essential in helping me keep on track. The running community in general is a really supportive one and it’s great.

I have been following the Virgin Money London Marathon intermediate plan, which has seen me running four times a week. Luckily, I’ve had no injuries during my training phase but my biggest thing has been making sure my levels for my diabetes are controlled. So, making sure I am eating the right things to make this balance out is important, especially during longer runs.

I’m hoping for a time of 4 hours but I will be happy to cross the line and get to the pub for a pint! I am most looking forward to the atmosphere, but also running down The Mall and crossing that finish line – I have thought about it quite a lot, so I am looking forward to it being a reality.

You can donate to Chris’s JustGiving page here.

Everyone at Activity Alliance would like to wish all of their 24 runners the best for the Virgin Money London Marathon, and thank you for raising funds for the charity.
Share your messages of support for our runners on Twitter, tag @AllForActivity in your tweet. Follow the event on social media via hashtags #LondonMarathon.