Asthmatic since childhood, a heavy drinker & smoker since his early teens, Pete began running as a way of losing weight, getting fitter, and combatting his mental health problems.
Starting out as somebody who couldn’t run a mile without stopping to get his breath back, Pete shed pounds whilst increasing his stamina, & ran the 2007 London Marathon in just under 5 hours, vowing to never run another marathon again.
However, as he grew stronger & fitter, Pete joined a local running club, gave up smoking, cut down on his alcohol consumption, and became addicted to the ‘runners high’. After following an online training programme, he crossed the finish line of the inaugural Brighton Marathon in under the 3:30 barrier – over 90 minutes faster than his previous marathon finishing time.
Vowing to break sub-3 hours for a marathon, Pete ran in many races, over all distances from 1 mile to 26.2, both in the UK & in his beloved Italy, improving his personal best times along the way, before finally, 6 years after his debut over the ‘classic distance’, he returned to London & achieved his dream, crossing the line in 2:54.
For the past decade Pete has been very actively involved with the local running scene in both the West Country & Midlands, being both Captain & Chairman of one club, and in the last few years has turned his attention to taking part in several Masters/Veterans events.
Now a shadow of his former self and a veteran of over 28 Marathons, including a marathon a month in 2015, Pete races across all distances, is a staunch advocate of the importance of exercise, especially parkrun, for all generations, and still occasionally finds time to coach/mentor others who wish to run, whatever the distance.
All in all, not bad for somebody who watched the television coverage of the very first London marathon and thought, “I wouldn’t mind having a go at doing that…”