A dedicated fundraiser who put his body on the line at last year’s London Marathon is set to embark on a bigger set of challenges.
Earlier this year Peter Mahoney, from Oakridge, donned a Little Miss Sunshine costume to take part in the 23-mile race through the capital to raise cash for Children With Leukemia.
And now the 42-year-old will morph into Mr Bump to take part in the Great South Run on October 30, the Reading Half Marathon and London Marathon in April 2012.
His 50-mile effort is to try and raise up to £6,000 for Children with Cancer UK. He was inspired to help the charity by great nephew Lewis, who lives in Scotland, who is battling the disease. He said that during Lewis’s time in hospital, two of his nephew’s friends succumbed to cancer following a two-year fight.
He said: “When children die to diseases like cancer it is so sad that you want to do what you can to help, such as raise money to help try and find a cure.”
The Mr Bump costume weighs more than a stone which can double in the wet, but he said it helped catch the eyes of unwary passers by.
“When I started training runs around Basingstoke the horns were already beeping and people were telling me I am mad.”
Standing at 6ft 6ins and weighing 19 stone, he admits he is not a natural runner but is determined to complete the challenges.
He said: “It is going to be hard, the last marathon took me seven-and-a-half-hours. It drained me, I had nothing left, I never could have prepared for that.
“But everything pales into insignificance when children are dying. My back hurts, and my brother’s knee is injured but that really means nothing when someone has lost a child - it’s that simple. I may suffer for a couple days after but it doesn’t matter when I think of those kids who could be anyone’s children.”
He will be joined by brothers, Paul, 51, from Hatch Warren, and Andrew 47, from Portsmouth.
Anyone wishing to sponsor Peter should visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/LewisandCarly.
Alternatively anyone wanting to help out with fundraising should call Peter on 07825 985715.
