A father-of three from Shotley is taking on two marathons in two weeks to raise money for St Elizabeth Hospice.
Andy Miley, 38 and a member of Ipswich’s Jaffa running club, plans to take on the Manchester Marathon on Sunday, April 8, before tackling the Southampton ABP marathon on Sunday, April 22.
Andy has been running 40 miles a week in preparation for his gruelling challenge, and hasn’t let the snow from the Beast from the East impede his training.
“It was one of my best weeks for training, that week it snowed,” he said.
“I did 54 miles that week. It was great, I loved it.
“I was out at 4am some mornings.
“I thought to myself, if I can run in these conditions, I can do it on the road.
“It was good training in extreme conditions.”
Mr Miley took up running two years ago after feeling out of shape when he left the armed forces. He said: “I had put on a bit of weight a few years ago.
“I am an ex-forces man so thought when I left I wouldn’t have to run again.
“But all of a sudden I looked at myself and though ‘my gosh, look at the state of me’.
“I took up running and I just got addicted to it”.
Mr Miley said the hardest part of training wasn’t the miles on the road, but the hours spent away from his family.
“The trouble is I don’t see a lot of the family at the moment,” he said.
“You end up coming in from work, having a quick bit of dinner and then heading out for a run.”
Mr Miley is raising cash for St Elizabeth Hospice - the chosen charity of his employer Associated British Ports (ABP), based at Ipswich Waterfront.
Paul Ager, divisional port manager at ABP, said: “We are extremely proud of Andy’s efforts and determination with this challenging feat and as a business many colleagues have supported him to raise money which has been fantastic.
“We wish Andy the best of luck and all our best wishes will be with him whilst he continues his training and the marathon’s themselves.”
For more information about the challenge and to donate to Mr Miley’s fundraising efforts visit his JustGiving page.
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