Local Ipswich man is joining his best friend during a triple marathon challenge to help raise money for people with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
Matt Oldfield, 35, from Ipswich is a sports lecturer at Suffolk New College.
He is joining his friend, James Blair from Wilmslow in Cheshire, for the Manchester marathon this coming weekend.
He will then head to London next week to cheer James on during the last leg of his triple header marathon journey.
James completed the Paris marathon last week in a time of four hours and 18 minutes.
The duo are running on behalf of James’ step dad, Mike, who was diagnosed with MND in 2024. The pair are hoping to raise £6k the MND Association.
Matt is feeling ‘in a good place’ ahead of the challenge having ran 385 miles in the run up to the Manchester Marathon.
He said: “Completing it is the main thing – and I’ll be running this with James. I think I’ll be emotional at the end. If people wanted to donate it would be amazing. MND is a tough thing to live with so if people can reach out and donate any money they can spare, that would be great.”
Matt has not only been motivated by his best mate and Mike, he has also taken a lot of inspiration from the Rugby League player, Kevin Sinfield, who has currently raised over £11m for various MND charities in memory of his friend Rob Burrows.
Matt said: “You look at people like the rugby player Kevin Sinfield who has raised millions. Seeing what he has been doing can only spur you on and I’m sure that will help me in the tough times during the race.”
If you would like to donate money to Matt’s cause you can do so here.