Runner's challenge in memory of mum (From The Advertiser Series)

Runner's challenge in memory of mum

12:14pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News

A NORTH-EAST man is aiming to complete the Great North Run to raise funds for the hospice which cared for his mother in her final days.

Andy Pritchard, 42, first ran the course in 1986 as a teenager, recording a time of twoand- a-half hours.

Twenty-six years on, the civil engineer from Gilesgate, Durham, will tackle the halfmarathon again in aid of St Cuthbert’s Hospice, in Merryoaks, where his mother, Jenny, worked as a volunteer for six months before falling ill and dying of liver cancer in October last year, aged 68.

So far, he has raised more than £400 for the cause.

“Mum wanted to go back to the hospice as a patient once she became ill and they looked after her really well, and we agreed I would do this run,”

said Mr Pritchard.

The 6ft 5in, 15st novice runner says he is feeling confident ahead of the event and hopes to cross the finish line in under two hours.

“I’m not really a runner and only started last year. It was daunting at first, but I’m looking forward to it now,” he said.