Igniting his inner soul, Richard Bradbury has completed yet another running challenge, but this time as Elwood Blues.

Champion fundraiser Richard has stormed through an array of races again this year, raising money and awareness of Worldwide Cancer Research.

After losing his brother to the cruel disease, Richard was more motivated than ever to take up running, and since then has impressed many with his athletic talent.

At the beginning of 2022, he committed to completing a marathon, an ultra and a selection of half-marathons. Striding through these, he has so far raised around £700.

However, for the recent Great North Run, Richard teamed up with his friend, Lee Worthington.

“When the race was on television last year, Lee phoned me and asked if I fancied running the Great North Run with him, he’d only just started running and was looking for a challenge.

“My brother, Tim, ran the Great North Run years ago, and so I thought it would be good to give it a go. We secured our place through the charity and the race was amazing,” Richard said.

The crowd spurred Richard and Lee through the 13.1-mile distance, which for Lee was a monumental first occasion. Encouraging his friend to push through his debut half marathon, Richard guided Lee around Newcastle, enjoying a good laugh while doing so.

Between them, they have raised close to £2000 for Worldwide Cancer Research, money that will help them carry out life-saving work.

“We had originally planned a target time, but after a while we just decided our goal was to finish the race, and we had a great time.

“I sported my Elwood costume for this race, me and Tim grew up watching The Blues Brothers, so it seemed fitting. I had lots of comments with people asking where Jake was,” he said.

Of course, in spirit, Jake aka Tim, was at the race. Richard carries the memory of his loving brother through every event that he journeys to, motivating him to push further.

He will bring the Elwood costume back out at this weekend’s Manchester Half Marathon (9 October). Richard is aiming to cross the finish line under two hours and will be relying on the fantastic Manchester crowds to help him.

Despite completing a marathon and a selection of half-marathons in 2022, Richard’s favourite run remains his Isle of Man TT course lap.

You can read more on this story here.

To finish off the year, Richard will continue to enjoy his running, before getting ready to take on a 50 mile race in April 2023.

You can help Richard on his battle against Cancer here.

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