Three of our sales colleagues completed the London Marathon, raising thousands of pounds for the Meningitis Research Foundation and strengthening ties with key customer Duftons plumbers merchants along the way.
Originally, it was Mustafa Rahman, Tom Ball and Joe Munday who had committed to running the 26.2-mile event, taking place on one of the hottest marathon days in the race’s history.
But when Mustafa suffered an injury during training, Joe Hartshorne stepped in at the last minute, finding out just days before that he would be taking on one of the world’s most iconic running challenges.
Joe said: “I only found out on the Wednesday that I was doing it, so my focus was just on finishing. The heat made it a real test – 22 degrees and not a cloud in sight – but the atmosphere was unbelievable.
“I’ve done a lot of events before, but nothing compares to this. The crowd were phenomenal, and seeing my family at mile 11 gave me the lift I needed to push through to the end. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Tom also had to battle the heat, as well as an unexpected obstacle just before the finish line. After staying steady through most of the course, he found himself pushing for a final sprint when he mistook another runner for teammate Joe Munday.
“With about 1km to go I thought I saw Joe, so I gave it everything I had,” said Tom. “Then, about 200 yards from the finish, I swerved to avoid someone, hopped up onto the kerb, landed on a water bottle and just collapsed. My legs gave way, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and two people carried me over the finish line.”
One of those people, it turned out, was none other than Suzanne Shaw, member of early-2000s pop band Hear’Say (pictured above helping Tom, with another runner). She later reached out to check Tom was ok.
“I ended up in the medical tent for a couple of hours but I was fine afterwards,” Tom added. “It wasn’t the ending I had planned, but the whole day was brilliant. Running through the city past all those landmarks, with the roar of the crowd, was an incredible experience.”
Despite the setbacks, all three runners crossed the finish line, joining a record-breaking field to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of marathon finishers.
The team took part in the race through an initiative by Duftons, who every year invite a number of customers and supplier partners to take part, with money raised going to the Meningitis Research Foundation.
If you’d like to support the charity, please check out Joe Munday and Tom’s JustGiving pages via the links below.