Personal trainer to run 50 marathons in 50th year
Mark BarrettA personal trainer who turns 50 in May has set himself the target of running 50 marathons in 2026.
Mark Barrett wants to raise £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation after his wife Hayley, 42, underwent surgery following the discovery of a hole in her heart, likely there since birth. She has since recovered.
The trainer from Sandbach, Cheshire, said he wanted to both celebrate her strength and support the charity, the research of which had helped make the surgery possible.
Barrett began his runs on New Year's Day. He is planning to do a mix of local marathons, major events and self-organised ones.
Mark BarrettHis wife was diagnosed with "quite a large" hole in the upper chambers of her heart at the age of 39, after she began getting out of breath.
Previously, she had always thought she had asthma.
"It was a massive shock for Hayley, a huge thing to get her head around and cope with and obviously go through surgery, but she's a very strong woman."
Barrett said his wife was doing really well post surgery, and recently joined him on a marathon, running 10k, which was "an incredible amount, bearing in mind what she went through".
He said when he turned 40, he did 12 marathons in 12 months, and really wanted a big challenge heading towards 50 "just to prove that old boys can still do it", adding that he found them weirdly enjoyable.
The first few marathons had been a "little bit tough", and at 49, getting out of bed the next day was "a little bit awkward first thing".
To motivate him on his runs, the personal trainer said he had some "interesting tunes" on his running playlist, from Linkin Park to the Greatest Showman.
"If you're going through four, five hours of running, you've got to have a good mix," he said.
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