Paul Forshaw began his running journey in 2009, following a hip replacement the previous year. Within 12 months he completed his first Half Marathon, taking part with the Higgy’s Heroes team.

“My wife unfortunately has MS, so I wanted to join the Higgy’s Hero group, formed by ex-England Rugby International Alastair Hignell, who also has MS, and take part in the event to raise money for the charity.”

9 years later, in 2018, Paul’s previous hip replacement collapsed, fracturing his pelvic bone, which meant he required a revision hip replacement and bone transplant, but this wasn’t to stop him getting fit again.

“Being my wife’s sole carer, I was determined to get fit again. Not long after my comeback, I ran another half marathon around Christmas time and somehow had completed another 11 half marathons by the beginning of November 2019! This meant I had completed the Global Marathon Challenge of 12 Half Marathon’s in 12 Months.”

“I took part in the very first Great Run Local Newmarket run in April 2018, just before my hip collapsed. It was great in my comeback to have the option of doing 2k, and I received a lot of support and encouragement from the volunteers.

Now I volunteer on a regular basis, with a great bunch of people on a beautifully scenic course over The Gallops. I love it!”

Unfortunately, during lockdown, Great Run Local came to an end. However due to the superb efforts of Anna and Dave, the volunteer coordinators for Great Run Local Newmarket – Run Newmarket was born. Same day (Sunday), same courses (2k and 5k), same time (11.15am). The response has been great from the local public and the event is certainly thriving. The same core volunteer team from Great Run Local have returned, which provides a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere for adults and children alike. If I do not have another event on a Sunday I try not to miss being up at The Gallops.

As of 14 November this year I have now finished over 60 official half marathons and a marathon. In October I completed the Global Marathon Challenge of 52 official half marathons in 52 weeks and the goal is to reach 100 half marathons by next May and to complete 10 official half marathons in 10 consecutive days in June. I have also returned to parkrun since they restarted in July after lockdown and I have reached a total of 418 runs as of the 22nd Nov.

Great Run Local, now Run Newmarket has played a great part in Paul’s running comeback. He has also become a core member of the volunteering team, acting as the 5K tail walker regularly .

Join Paul and the team at Run Newmarket on the Gallops every Sunday morning at 11:15.

More details here: runnewmarket.blogspot.com

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