Head of Data Management completes the London Marathon

Adam Walker, Head of Richmond’s Data Management department, completed this year’s Flora London Marathon in 4 hours and 39 minutes! Adam raised £2,500 for the charity ‘Bliss’, but first he had to run 26.2 miles…Adam put in months of training to make sure he would be able to finish the course: “I started training in earnest in Mid December, and since then I’ve put in 4 runs and 2 cycling sessions every week! I trained for an hour before work on weekdays and ran 16 miles every Sunday. But even with that amount of training, running the marathon is very, very hard! After 20 miles, I really hit the wall and started walking for the first time. But I actually found it more painful to walk so I started running again! The crowd were fantastic and made a real difference over the last few miles. Once I was past Tower Bridge I knew the end was in sight and just kept telling myself to keep going. As I came into the final stretch, I could see my family cheering me on! It was, needless to say, a huge relief to finish!”The charity Bliss is dedicated to caring for premature babies: “This is the second year I’ve run to support Bliss, and I’m delighted to have raised a total of £5,000 from the two marathons. My daughter Amelie Grace was born 6 weeks prematurely and was in intensive care at the Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, for 4 weeks. I’m very grateful that Amelie was able to make a full recovery and is now a very healthy and happy toddler. I will continue to raise money for Bliss to help other families who find themselves in the same position.”To find out more about Bliss, visit www.bliss.org.ukTo sponsor Adam, visit www.justgiving.com/adam_walker