Chris Pearson ran 2 Marathons for Max Appeal in 2021

Chris signed up for the Great Manchester Run half marathon (26th September) and the Manchester Marathon (10th October)

The marathon was the hardest thing I’ve done physically. I finished with a time of 4:21:03, which I’m happy with considering I was crawling the last 10k! 

I trained pretty hard in the run up, but nothing really prepares you for the mental tax you have to pay. I messed up my nutrition too and didn’t take on enough calories during the race (until it was too late!) – that was a rookie mistake! I got to the last 10k and it was tough going trying to smash through the wall, but I managed to get there in the end (pic attached was during my ‘wall moment’!).

The mixture of the support from the crowd, my donors and my family was amazing. During the race, the noise and support from the crowd was really moving at times (particularly when you’re digging deep!). It was overwhelming to see how many people turned up to cheer us on.

Running for Max Appeal gave me a real purpose. Any hard times, I could look down at my jersey and remember why I was running. I was really proud to fly the Max Appeal flag on the day and look forward to the next time I get to wear my jersey on the starting line!