Birthday marathon
Jenson Williamson celebrated his ninth birthday on 29 April, but for obvious reasons, was unable to celebrate his big day in the usual style.
Jenson’s dad, work area manager, Martin Williamson, from Warrington Mail Centre, said his son was ‘very philosophical about his birthday, and said that there were many people around the world, who were worse off than him.
‘He decided that to celebrate his birthday, he wanted to do something nice for others and after watching Captain Tom Moore on television, asked if he could also raise money for the NHS by walking around our garden.
‘I explained to him that as Captain Tom was nearly 100-years-old and he was a mere nine-years-old, he would probably have to do something more than walk around the garden to raise money.’
Jenson told his dad that instead he would endeavour to run a marathon in the hope of raising £100 for the NHS by doing so.
‘Obviously 26.2 miles is a lot for a nine-year-old to run in one go,’ said Martin. ‘So, we decided to split the distance between the 10 days up to his birthday, meaning he would have to run 4.5km a day or 32 laps of the street in which we live.
‘We set up a Just Giving page for him and spread the word via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.’
Spirits were high on day one with Tom Walker and George Ezra providing the motivational tunes to keep Jenson going. On day two, the minor snag of needing new trainers during a global pandemic was admirably dealt with by Tobutts Sports coming to the aid and sorting Jenson with his new ASICS GT 1000s.
On day three, Jenson chalked off a superhuman 96 laps, which equates to 13.5km of the 42.2km required. He even broadcast live on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to spread the message about what he was doing to as wide an audience as possible. He also raised his target after managing to smash his original £250 fundraising target.
Day four saw Jenson power through another 32 laps, while gaining support from BBC Radio Manchester, Tower FM and most impressive of all for Jenson, his beloved Bolton Wanderers.
‘Over the remaining five days, Jenson managed to raise his total to more than £1,000,’ said Martin. ‘And thanks to the huge generosity of my friends and colleagues at Warrington Mail Centre, who have collectively donated another £1,100, his fundraising pot is currently sat just below £2,500.
‘I have applied for matched giving and if approved, this will take Jenson’s fundraising total beyond £2,500, which in the current climate, I believe is a wonderful achievement, which wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible generosity of colleagues and managers from all shifts at Warrington and throughout the business.’
