Jason Akenbrook knows a healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is helping him prepare for next year’s London marathon. The 41 year-old from Shillington works as a warehouse supervisor at fruit and vegetable wholesalers G&M Growers in Upper Caldecote.
“I’ve only been running for five years, since taking part in an OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) event for a friend’s 40th birthday. I thought if I was going to run I should do the best I can, and got as fit as possible. That meant plenty of training and eating a healthy diet. I was soon surprised at how much I enjoyed pounding the pavement and I’ve been a regular runner ever since.”
Jason’s competed in several half-marathons and has also completed a little over the full marathon distance of 26.2 miles in six hours over a tricky terrain at Hinchingbrooke in Huntingdon. “I did as many 5km laps as possible and completed nine of them in all.”
He’s also joined a running club, Runners Need, in Biggleswade. “I run solo some of the time but the club gives me the opportunity to run socially.”
The super-fit 40 year-old family man from Biggleswade started running six years ago and completed the 2022 London marathon in three hours and 31 minutes. Leon also made the national news when he helped TOWIE (The Only Way Is Essex) celebrity Mark Wright, finish the run when he was struggling with cramp.
Jason, who lives with wife Tara and children Ethan, 10 and Niamh, 7, lists his hobbies as supporting Spurs and showing Welsh ponies in hand. “I go to the football with Leon as often as I can get tickets. We’ve known each other since school and Leon’s mum Teresa calls me her second son!”
Jason and the family visit the pony shows most weekends in the summer, travelling round the country and sometimes abroad too.
But it’s the London Marathon Jason is really looking forward to. “I think it’s the ultimate event for any runner. I’ve been told the atmosphere is unbelievable and I know, despite the possible pain, I’m going to enjoy it. I’m raising money for the Herts MS Therapy Centre in Letchworth, a local charity and a special one too.”
You can sponsor Jason and support the charity via his fundraising page.
If you would like to run and raise money for the Centre, there are a few places available for the 2023 London Marathon, which takes place on Sunday April 23, please contact Paul Bishop on 07973 237162.
Oxygen sessions at Herts MS Therapy Centre are used as a complementary therapy that can help some people. It is safe to try and is natural. For more than 30 years the charity has helped thousands of people with MS, Parkinson’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, ME, fibromyalgia, sleep apnoea, leg ulcers and cancer. It has also helped people recover from Long Covid.