Radford Semele man to run half marathon around Warwick and Leamington for cause close to heart

A Radford Semele resident will be running his own half marathon for a charity close to his heart.

Warwick cricket club member Ashley Spall, known as Ash, is aiming to run his very own half marathon around Leamington and Warwick on Saturday July 27, with the finish line being at Warwick Cricket Club.

He will be raising money for Sporting Minds UK, which was founded in 2019, with the mission to raise awareness and provide support to enable positive mental health in young sportspeople.

Ash, aged 28, who will be taking up a place at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on their one year acting course from September, said: “I’ve seen the personal benefits of keeping fit, for both physical and mental health, mainly by running, during lockdown.

"I really wanted to aim to run a half marathon, not having done that before.

"So when I saw the great work the charity Sporting Minds UK is doing to support young athletes mental health during these more difficult times, I thought it would be brilliant to set my very own half marathon challenge, while raising money for this very good cause.”

This is not Ash''s first fundraising challenge as he has previously taken on trekking part of The Great Wall of China and climbing Mount Etna.

Ash is currently using the Nike Running App half marathon training programme, which has seen him run nearly 300km so far, balancing his training with working at Southam College.

While the usual marathon events Ash could enter are all being written off the calendar, and social distancing becoming a kind of norm, Ash is keen to step the training up to a full marathon at sometime in the future.

Callum Lea, the 20-year-old founder of Sporting Minds UK said: “What Ashley is doing for us is just fantastic and very much welcomed - his fundraising will go a long way to help us to help others.

"It’s a fact that those with existing mental health conditions are struggling more than usual, while many who have never experienced mental health issues before are experiencing anxieties for the first time.

"We know this from the sharp rise in calls for support that we have received from young sportspeople over the last couple of months.”

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ashley-spall1