Ben Spencer is running the London Marathon in April and is aiming to raise £2,000 for the charity Asthma and Lung UK. He is almost halfway there but needs your help to achieve his financial goal – but he only has himself to rely on to reach his marathon time goal of under four hours.

You may have seen Ben around the village on his training runs which he’s been doing since December. He’s happy for people to say hello and beep an acknowledgment if you’re passing in your car.

Ben has asthma himself; he’s had it all his life but he doesn’t let it get in the way of challenging himself and he says that running has helped his breathing. He joined Barrow Runners (the village running club) in 2018 and says they’re a friendly and very supportive group. In fact, there will be eight people from the club running the marathon this year and he’s looking forward to the camaraderie as they meet up before and after the event. The atmosphere and buzz of a marathon, he told me, is fantastic and it’ll be great to share it with friends from the running club and his family who will be there to support him.

Ben hasn’t always been a runner, though. He’s taken it one step at a time – so to speak! He started off with a Couch to 5K run. Then progressed to running a 10K race followed by a half marathon and last year he was lucky to win the running club’s draw to take part in the London marathon for the first time. He says that from having no confidence in his ability, he built up his strength and stamina in a relatively short time. If you are vaguely thinking about starting running for fun and exercise, Ben recommends downloading the Couch to 5K App to get you started. He’s found running to be good for both his physical and mental health. He’s in the fresh air and has plenty of “head space” to think things through as he runs. But he was keen to acknowledge that he needs, and has, a very supportive family. His wife, Laura looks after things at home whilst he’s training on his longer runs; his daughter, Eloise, has made and sold bracelets to help contribute to his fundraising and his son, Jake, sometimes trains with him. He’s only nine years old, but has already got a 5K race under his belt… or rather, his running shoes!

When he’s not training or running, Ben works as a web developer for the UK-focused company Find My Past which helps people trace their family tree. He’s traced his own family back to the late 18th century and said that one of the most emotional things he has unearthed is the form that his great, great grandfather filled in when he signed up for the First World War. Find My Past is contributing £500 to his chosen charity for the marathon.

You can make a donation and track Ben’s training progress on his donation page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-spencer-london-marathon or a shorter version is: https://bit.ly/ben-marathon

And don’t forget to take a moment to honk or say hello when he passes you on Barrow’s streets.

Karisa Krcmar