James Brush, from Romford in Essex, is running the London Marathon for the Livability this year.
James knew he was up to the task because he was determined to raise money for Livability and to get fit. Despite that, he did still need a bit of extra inspiration to carry him through the grueling winter training sessions and eventually to get round the full 26 miles in April.
With this in mind, James decided to take a photo of himself after every training session! ‘It wasn’t always a great idea,’ says James, ‘when you get back after a day’s work and then go out for a big 15 mile run, really the last thing you want is to be doing is photographing yourself!’
‘Taking a selfie after every training session helped me notice the improvement really. Part of the reason why I wanted to run the marathon was to get fit – so I thought it would be fun to document the process and see how I changed. It must have worked pretty well as I’ve lost 3 stone in 6 months!’
The main inspiration
As entertaining as it was to take a snap after each run, the real drive behind James’s marathon effort was his step brother who is a resident at Livability’s Kenway Court in Southend-on-Sea (Essex).
‘He is the reason I want to run the marathon, along with all of the other residents at Kenway Court’, says James. ‘Not only raise money but to build awareness of Kenway Court, the great work they do and what they represent. Hopefully through my efforts I can provide them with more funding for the future.’
‘Two years ago I raised £2,200 to enable six residents to attend a therapeutic trampolining course and I really loved fundraising for them. As I’ve wanted to, I’ve not been able to fundraise for them since, so I believe this is my chance to support them and Livability.’
Click here to contribute to James’s JustGiving page.
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