Serial runner Richard Bradbury has now kicked off his race calendar after completing the Manchester Marathon.

Working tremendously hard throughout 2021 to ensure that he was able to raise as much money as possible for Worldwide Cancer Research, the Audenshaw athlete completed an array of races and clocked up some impressive mileage.

Impressively, he raised an incredible £5,600 for the charity and is ready to dust off his shoes and do it all again this year.

Completing the London Marathon in October, Richard eagerly awaited his next opportunity to step on the start line.

Continuing to train since the event, he regularly ticks off 25-mile weeks but started to taper off his mileage ahead of the prestigious Manchester event.

“To run a marathon, you need a personal incentive as it’s such a monumental thing to do. I felt inspired to do Manchester, there’s no travel or logistics to worry about, you can only think about the race.

“Doing a marathon is an achievement for anyone, this is only my third and I just wanted to do the best that I could,” he said.

Powering through the 26.2-mile course with a smile on his face, Richard crossed the finish line in a remarkable time of 3 hours 50 minutes, a new personal best.

As always, he showed an immense amount of dedication for this race, saying afterwards that although his quadriceps were sore, ‘pain is temporary’.

The marathon has now been crossed off his list, but that is just one of the many events that he has planned for 2022.

Richard has always loved the Isle of Man TT, often venturing down to fulfil his love of motorbikes. Thinking on this, he has decided that he will complete his first ultra-marathon – completing a lap of the course.

The vehicles complete a 37.73 lap in the race, a distance that Richard will be completing on foot.

“It will be slow and steady, and it will be a case of just getting it done,” he says.

As well as this, the committed runner will also be gearing up to face two half marathons (Manchester and The Great North Run).

“One of my friends from work, Lee Worthington, started running last year so I said I’d give him some advice.

“When The Great North Run was televised last year, he messaged me asking if I’d like to run it with him. Of course, I said yes, and I got us both a place to run for the charity,” he said.

He is set to endure some fantastic races throughout the year and will be doing all he can to aid Worldwide Cancer Research at the same time.

After spending the last two years developing a real love for the sport, 2022 is the year to chase his PB’s, with a terrific start to this already in the Manchester Marathon.

You can support his fundraiser here. 

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