Running with Jesus in February

In February 2023, Simon Cooper, the mission director of Refreshment UK, is completing a unique event – The Great National Marathon. It is a series of fifteen 5km runs across England to raise money to support people with managed mental health conditions in Blackpool. The run goes from Olympic Park in London to Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, and covering many athletics stadiums across England.

Back in 2005, Simon organised the first Great National Marathon and ran a mile in 27 locations over three days for a national homeless charity. Now, he is attempting to do 75km in just under 90 hours, with 900 miles of driving built in as well, from 8th to 12th February 2023.

Only three years ago, Simon weighed in at over 22 stone, but in 2021, Simon was diagnosed with Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease and after a brief period in hospital, he took up exercise and running to look after his health. He has been a regular at various Parkruns around the country since the summer of 2022 and runs 4 times a week to manage his condition. During the event in February, he will complete his 25th Park run in just over 6 months. Along with the support of his church, has been able to lose over 10 stone, as well as see his kidney function improve.

Simon sees the running as key to fighting CKD. “The way I see it, I was very close to having to spend three sessions a week in dialysis, but instead, I aimed to get fit, running when I could have been on dialysis and try to fight my kidney disease. My function has gone up by 10% since my diagnosis – it’s a hard lifestyle, training like an athlete, but it seems to be working, praise God.”

The event has raised over £1500 so far for the work in Blackpool and will help with keeping the charity’s Deansgate location warm, with the increased costs.