Nick Walker is set to take on the Great North Run this Sunday, raising funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) in memory of a childhood friend who passed away from the condition.
What makes Nick’s story remarkable is not just his dedication to a good cause, but the personal journey he has taken to get here. Nick’s journey began in 2019 when his fiancée, Order Fulfilment Manager Sharon Brown (pictured with Nick, above), inspired him to start running.
“I never thought I would ever be able to run any form of distance,” said Nick, Procurement and Quality Director of our group business. “I remember pedalling my bike alongside Sharon as she did a 10k back in 2019 and couldn’t believe that after it she could just stand and have a conversation with me. ‘I’d never be able to do that,’ I remember saying.”
At that time, Nick was struggling with his fitness, smoking over 15 cigarettes a day and getting out of breath on moderate walks. However, determined to make a change, he started going to the gym.
“On 30th December 2019 – I remember the date well! – I was in the gym. I got myself on the treadmill and started a little jog… I lasted two minutes and needed to stop because I couldn’t breathe. Every few days from then, I tried another 30 seconds, then a minute and so on,” he says.
Slowly but surely, Nick began to build up his stamina. By late February 2020, he had bought his first pair of running trainers and completed his first 5k with Sharon by his side. “I was over the moon,” said Nick. “It felt like hell, mind!”
By mid-April, just a few weeks into lockdown, he had pushed himself to complete a 10k, a milestone he never thought possible.
In 2021, he took part in his first organised 10k race, and in 2023, he supported Sharon at the Great North Run, where he was struck by the incredible atmosphere and the determination of runners of all abilities. It was then that he decided to take on a new challenge. “I wanted to be part of that and decided I should sign up and give myself a new goal,” he says.
Above, left, Lee (second left) and Nick (second right) can be seen above on a fishing trip as kids and, right, Lee while playing for Skirlaugh rugby league team.
Nick’s motivation for the Great North Run goes beyond personal achievement; he is running in memory of his childhood friend Lee Newton, who passed away from Motor Neurone Disease in 2017.
“Lee was an inspiration; he had always been a very active sportsman—rugby league was his thing,” Nick remembers. Despite battling Motor Neurone Disease, Lee created and led the L6ve Life Foundation (the 6 representing his shirt number) to raise funds for MND research and support those living with the disease. Nick wants to honour his friend’s legacy by running for the MNDA.
Nick has been preparing intensively for the half marathon and is now in the final stages of training. “I have finished my ramp-up training, now I am ‘tapering’, and I can still say I have never enjoyed a run. However, my personal sense of achievement from pedalling that bike next to Sharon in 2019 to now being ready for a half-marathon makes me proud and keeps me going,” he reflects.
Not stopping there, Nick has also signed up for the Humber Half Marathon just two weeks after the Great North Run. “Undoubtedly it seems with two halves in one month, I’m a changed man,” he says. “Maybe one day I will enjoy it!”
If you would like to donate to Nick’s fundraising efforts, you can do so by visiting his JustGiving page via the link below.