Forget the London Marathon, the 3 peaks or even jumping out of a plane, this will be our biggest challenge so far…….
This year we will be running the Great North Run for Candleligters in their brand new mascot named Champ

Candlelighters are a Yorkshire based charity that support families affected by Childhood Cancer.
Natalie and I work for Candlelighters within the family support team, but we have both been affected by childhood cancer and supported by Candlelighters in the past. My son Brad was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma back in 2014 but sadly passed away 10 months later just 2 weeks before his 16th birthday. Natalie sadly lost her sister Lauren in 2009 when she was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma at the age of 14.
Champ was chosen by our families and supporters due to the unique way Elephants look after their family.

Champ weighs a huge 10kg and not the most ideal costume to be running in due to him being so furry, which has been tough during training with the recent good weather we have been having. Ventilation within the mascot is very restricted which makes this challenge more arduous. Natalie and I will be taking it in turns to wear the costume on the course spending up to 90 mins at a time in the costume whilst the other acts as a guide due to the restricted vision within the costume. But what spurs us on the most to do this is knowing that we can help towards supporting more families and also keeping Brad and Laurens memory alive.