Torbay Half Marathon for Shaldon Wildlife Trust

My name is Marc and in September this year, I am going to run The Torbay Half Marathon on the 29th of September for the Shaldon Wildlife Trust Charity.

I've never really done a proper run before, outside of casual exercise or running back to my house cos I forgot my phone/wallet/keys again, and I have 5 months to train up to be able to run 21km. I think it will be hard, and that's why I've decided to do it for a charity - to not only give me drive and motivation, but to help a cause that's dear to my heart.

Ever since December last year, I've been volunteering almost every week at Shaldon Zoo on Sundays. I fell in love with the animals and the people there, and it really gives me a sense of pride and fulfillment to be able to help them out with my time. Most Zoos in the UK are charitys so they rely heavily on volunteers, donations, and fundraisers to get the money they need to support their animals. I never really saw this side of things from the outside until I met people in the industry, which is why I want to do what I can to help.

On Saturday the 4th of May, I joined my first Park Run in Paignton and ran 5km in 35 minutes and 23 seconds. I almost passed out, but that was my starting point to work from. The following week I did it in 31 minutes and 39 seconds, so in theory I should be cutting off roughly 4 minutes each time.

I will be trying to do the Park Run every week to track my progress, and as time goes on and my legs stop breaking after each run, implement more runs throughout the week to aim for longer distances to meet the demands of the half marathon.

Please join me in this journey and donate what you can. I'll be providing updates of my runs and times after each one, as well pictures of the cute and cool animals that you'll be supporting at the zoo.

Thank you very much.