Severn marathon will help wounded troops

8:25pm Friday 11th April 2008

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A WORCESTER man is set to run the length of the river Severn from source to sea in a bid to raise money for charity.

Alistair Bexon said he will be running between 30 and 40 miles every day for a week with friend Nicholas Ross to raise funds for Help for Heroes, a charity that looks after injured servicemen and women returning from duties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Bexon, who is set to join the Army and start his officer training at Sand-hurst later this month before joining 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worc-esters and Foresters), said: "It will be quite hard work but if it was easy it we wouldn't be doing it."

Mr Bexon, aged 23, said the run would start at the source of the river Severn in the Welsh mountains on Saturday, April 19.

The pair will then run alongside the river through Welshpool, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Worcester, Tewkesbury, Gloucester, before ending in Bristol. Mr Bexon said he decided to do the 220-mile run during a period when he will have some time off before he starts training at Sandhurst.

"We thought rather than just take a holiday we would do something a bit more worthwhile," he said. "A few friends left for Afghanistan recently so that's on our minds at the moment."

Mr Bexon, of Warndon Villages, said he has done a few marathons and lengthy runs in the past and said he had been running some parts of the river in preparation for the event.

"I've been running bits of it to make sure we don't get lost along the way," he said. "Some friends and family will be putting us up in places and some nights we will be camping so it's going to be a bit of a mix and match."

Mr Bexon said he was looking forward to the event. To make a donation log on to www.just giving.com/ aliandduck.