Sevenoaks residents and commuters, Andrew Priest and Douglas Howie, ran the  London marathon this year. They do most of their training together. “A significant proportion of our training runs have to be for an hour or more. If there is no-one to chat to, or to encourage you through the times when you feel like stopping, the training process seems much harder,” says Andrew.
To do as much of their mileage as possible in daylight the pair can regularly be spotted on early morning trains from Sevenoaks dressed for running rather than working (see photo). From London Bridge they have several training routes, mostly near the Thames, which eventually take them to the sanctuary of their offices.
Andrew ran to raise money for the charity Asthma UK who fund research to help the five million, mainly child, sufferers from asthma in this country, of whom 2,000 die each year.
This year Douglas ran to raise funds for the 'Building On' project at his local church, St Bartholomew’s Otford, which is seeking to raise about £900,000 to provide a major extension with welcoming modern facilities and room for the children's groups to meet, amongst other things. As Douglas notes, “It is much easier to remain motivated if you are running for a cause which is personal to you and your family or friends. Last time I ran for an epilepsy charity as one of my nieces had recently been affected by epilepsy. She and several other members of my family turned out to watch and hearing their support at several points on the course was invaluable. It is a wonderful privilege to be able to perform in front of a crowd of several hundred thousand people.”

Andrew and Douglas thank everyone for their support and sponsorship!!