Advertising Feature / charity
Running for the Stroke Association – Joe’s story
Joe’s grandad Stanley was his absolute hero, whom he saw as his second dad. Sadly, he suffered a catastrophic stroke in September 2024, which led to him passing away in January, leaving his whole family devastated. The tragic event spurred Joe on to challenge himself at the Sheffield Half Marathon, to honour Stanley and raise money for the Stroke Association.
Image provided by Stroke Association
He is the first to admit that he found the course extremely challenging, with plenty of unforgiving hills (a far cry from the training run he had done in London the previous week). His friends had assured him the race wasn’t as bad as he thought, but according to Joe “they lied!”
Looking back on it, Joe remembers “I set out with a sub 1:50 finish time in mind, but I felt it was slipping. I came out too strong, overdid myself before the hills and felt it was slipping out of my grasp. When I finally reached the summit I put on the gas, ran like a gazelle (if the gazelle ran like a terrible runner from Sheffield) and kept going. But that wasn’t the end of the hills. There were horrible little ones scattered throughout”. He managed to stay focused by thinking of Stanley, even admitting “there were times during (the race) when I was talking to him, so people must have thought I was losing my mind!”. Whatever it was that did it, he not only managed to cross the finish line, but he achieved a personal best in the process, which he was, of course, over the moon about!
Image provided by Stroke Association
There is so much for Joe to be proud of but “the generosity that people have shown and the love that they have given in memory of Grandad” makes him the proudest. He managed to raise a whopping £815 for the Stroke Association, which was amazing. That figure was then doubled by the community fund bringing his total to £1630! Reflecting on the day and what a difference it will make, Joe admits “Those hills were definitely worth it.”
Image provided by Stroke Association
Stroke strikes every 5 minutes with 100,000 new people affected by stroke each year. If you feel inspired by Joe’s story and are considering challenging yourself at the AJ Bell Great Bristol 10k or already have a place, register here to do it for Stroke Association.
Sign up to run for Stroke Association here
