King's Lynn father once described as 'fat' now has the running bug

A 37-year-old father of two will be clocking up hundreds of miles this year in a marathon charity challenge.

Lynn’s Mark Harris has been motivated to get his running shoes on because of his daughters.

They told him to get healthier, so he has decided to take up the challenge, raising funds for Cancer Research UK and anti-modern slavery charity the Tribe Freedom Foundation in the process.

He is an ambassador of Tribe after coming across the charity through its nutritional products.

Mark will be running the Asda Foundation GEAR 10K on Sunday, May 5, and has also set himself the challenge of a Tough Mudder, a trail marathon and the 100K Race to the Stones in July.

He said: “One of my daughters told me to get healthier and take up running-so I did. I was about 12 stone 4 at the time so decided I had put on a fair bit.

“I joined a gym in May 2017 and realised that I could run 5K on a treadmill and enjoy it. By October 2017, I was up to 10K and so I signed up for the GEAR 10K in May 2018.

“My family are right behind what I’m doing and they put up with my urge to go running.

“I just love it because it’s peaceful and, although I’ve never actually run a marathon before, I hope I can just complete the events.”

So far he has raised £100 of his £500 target on a Just Giving page in support of Cancer Research UK through the Race to the Stones 100km race. All together he has raised over £1000 for the charities so far.

Typically running 50 to 80 kilometres each week, it is fair to say Mark has the running bug. He runs 10km to work each day then back.

If you would like to send a donation to Mark's Just Giving page, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-harris97.