Stuart Bush from Ramsey has completed his first marathon in Marakech, Morocco, despite a raft of injuries in the run up and during the event.
Having acquired Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, similar to shin splints, just three weeks before the event, it was touch or go on whether he would be able to compete in the marathon.
Stuart, a support work team leader at Sapphire Care, has also raised around £1,500 for local charity the Children’s Centre, which provides support for children in particular with difficult life experiences.
He has been running for around five years and said he has wanted to do a marathon for a while.
He said: ‘I really wanted to do a marathon, and I wanted to do it for charity, so I chose the Children’s Centre.
‘My son goes to the Children’s Centre on a Monday afternoon and the work they do is absolutely brilliant, especially with children who aren’t as lucky as my son, who don’t have as much help at home. I have realised how much need there is for that sort of thing.
Asked why he chose to compete in Marakech, Stuart said: ‘I knew I didn’t want to do a marathon over here, and I was looking at the world marathon programme and seeing what to do in January and that was the best one.
‘The temperatures didn’t look too bad when I was looking into it. It was 19 to 21 degrees, which I thought was very doable. I have always wanted to do a marathon in Africa, and it was the most affordable.
Competitors run through the city of Marakech, with it being one of the few marathons where the roads are kept open, according to Stuart.
There was a heatwave of 28 degrees during the period, which Stuart said was really challenging.
Stuart added: ‘Because we were training through the winter, the way we prepared for the heat is we layered up, I put lots of layers on, just trying to get used to running in warmth, even though it wasn’t the same as running in the heat.
‘We had such bad weather as well, the main training was when we had the high winds in December and all the flooding.’
During his training, Stuart picked up an injury in October time, as well as the injury he picked up three weeks ahead of the event.
Stuart said: ‘I think my lows of the experience were mainly injuries, because you have done so much training and then you get told you can’t run.
‘For the last three weeks the physio said, whatever you do, don’t run because you will wreck your chances of actually doing the marathon.
‘In those three weeks I had no idea what it was going to be like, it was fine to walk on but as soon as I started running, I didn’t know whether I would be able to do the marathon or not.
‘The physio turned around and said that my recovery time is six weeks, and this was three weeks before, so in my mind, I thought I was never going to be able to do it.
‘But my physio, Jane Cowley, was absolutely brilliant, and provided free sessions because it was for charity.’
As such, the marathon was the first time he ran since his injury, he said: ‘Doing the first seven miles without my leg flaring up, that was really good, it gave me the first incentive.
‘After seven or eight further miles it started hurting, because of that I started to try and run more on my other leg and then my hip went.
‘After 12 miles I went at a slower pace, and then once I got to 20 miles my leg started cramping up.
‘But getting to the 21 mile mark really motivated me to keep going. Throughout the marathon I was basing it off every two miles, so what I would do is give myself a boost every two miles, by taking a jam, or the next two miles having water.
‘But the euphoria when I finished it was absolutely brilliant, and my parents were there at the finish line as well cheering me on.’
He said the first thing he did when he completed the marathon was text his wife. He added: ‘I’m so grateful for the support from my wife Catherine, and two kids Harrison and Chester, for all the time I’ve been training.’
You can find his Justgiving page by searching Stuart’s fundraiser for the Children’s Centre.