Stalybridge man to run in the London Marathon for charity

Local lad James Lowe is gearing up for his second marathon in just 12 months, as he gets ready to take on the London Marathon on April 21.

This comes after James ran in the Manchester Marathon last April to raise money for Cancer Research UK, a charity close to his heart, having sadly lost his grandfather to the disease.

This was an event James thoroughly enjoyed: “It was an unbelievable experience, the atmosphere was like nothing I’ve ever encountered before.”

The man from Stalybridge managed to raise £555 for the Cancer charity, and hopes to raise a similar amount from this year's London Marathon, this time for an entirely different cause.

On this occasion, James wishes to raise money for a smaller charity called ‘Young Epilepsy’, which aims to support children and young people living with the condition.

This is a cause of huge significance to James, as his brother Justin is currently living with the condition.

James wanted to help raise awareness of the fantastic charity as he believes it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves: “It’s quite a small charity and it doesn’t get spoken about enough (Young Epilepsy), so through this I hope I can make more people aware of it, and let sufferers know that there is help out there.”

With just under three months to go until the big race, James has already begun his preparations: “I’m going to start intense training next month, but I’ve already done a few practice runs.

“I’m quite an active person anyway so my fitness has always been at a decent level.

“It’s not so much the physical side of things that I find tough, it’s more the mental side, but I try to have positive thoughts because if you don’t have a positive mindset, you won’t achieve anything.”

After running in the Manchester Marathon last year, James is very excited about the prospect of running in a different city: “Based on what I’ve heard about the London Marathon it should be an amazing experience, I’m sure the atmosphere will be amazing.

“I love meeting new people so I’m really looking forward to that aspect as well.

“I had a few nerves before the last one because it was my first marathon but once I got going the nerves started to ease, everyone cheering you on really helped with that.”

As mentioned, James will be raising funds for the charity ‘Young Epilepsy’ through the marathon, and donations are already being taken via his JustGiving page.

The total currently stands at just over £100, and James hopes that with a couple of months left to go before the race, the total will rise.

Helping out others is something James really enjoys, and he hopes that his story will inspire others to carry out similar feats: “I like to know that I’m making a difference to other people’s lives, I do everything I can to help people.

“For example, I love to give blood, I get a lot of satisfaction from providing for others.

“I hope to inspire others through what I’m doing, and I’d advise anyone who is thinking about doing something like this to choose a charity that’s close to their heart, that way it will mean something to them and be a lot more satisfying.”

You can donate to James' JustGiving page by clicking the link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-lowe-1704363161320

And if you would like to keep up to date with James’ journey, you can drop him a follow on Instagram: @realjameslowe.