Thaxted marathon man to raise money for children's charity
Collette Parker
Published: 9:53 AM July 15, 2014
Thaxted father-of-three Jim Gandon. - Credit: Archant
Thaxted father-of-three Jim Gandon has turned his life around and in the process is raising money for a children's charity helping make dreams come true.
Mr Gandon, 43, a sales and marketing director, was 13 years old when he lost his mother to cancer. When he reached the same age that his mother was when she died he decided he needed to make big changes to his lifestyle.
He saw his life before him and wanted to make sure he would be around for his three children Libby, nine, Jack, seven, and Ted, five.
"I was drinking, smoking and very unfit. I could hardly run a yard," he said. "I told my partner Tracey that I was going out for a run and could not even reach the end of the road without getting out of breath and had to come back."
Things could not be more different now for Jim, who is planning to run 12 half marathons, a half marathon every month for the next year to raise funds for the charity Rays of Sunshine.
"I now run five times a week, go to the gym all the time, stopped the smoking and I have cut down on the drinking. I was never fat, but I've also lost about a stone in weight too. My friends think I am a great inspiration, because they knew what I was like and they say to themselves 'Well if Jim can do it we can too!'"
He built up stamina steadily over the last year taking part in a full marathon raising £3,800 for the Haven House Children's Hospice, and is now very fit.
10 Fire crews tackle M11 car blaze
"I decided that I wanted to continue which is when I came up with the plan to enter 12 half marathons over the next 12 months," Mr Gandon said. "I chose Rays of Sunshine because it is wonderful to see dreams come true for children who are poorly and their families. We are blessed as we have three very healthy children. You only need to look at their website and you get a real tangible sense of what can be achieved by the charity."
To support Mr Gandon in his quest go to justgiving.com/jimgandon