Thousands of runners took to the lanes of Wilmslow and Mobberley on Sunday for the Waters Wilmslow Half Marathon and Jim Pickup Q.C. from Lincoln House Chambers was amongst the many competing to raise money for charity. In glorious early Spring sunshine the generous crowds saw course records being smashed, and personal best times set. Millions of pounds were raised, much pain was endured and many challenges were met.
But this is not the first half marathon undertaken by Jim recently. The battle began when his elder son Oliver (a sports journalist) challenged him to take on this years London Marathon with an hour’s head start. Such an insult to Jim’s sporting heritage could not be allowed to pass. The gauntlet was taken up, and in October Jim and Oliver took on the Royal Parks half Marathon in London, raising money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. A mere 40 seconds separated the two combatants at the finish, hardly reflecting the 30 year age difference!
Oliver’s response to this was to hire a personal trainer. Ten weeks later and many pounds lighter, he submitted a piece to the Telegraph entitled “From Fatness to Fitness“.
This Sunday he certainly showed improvement by finishing some 5 minutes ahead of his “old man”!! Yet Pickup senior did set a personal best of 1hr 54 mins and was well placed in the “very old git” (i.e.M60+) category.
So now to the main event……unfortunately Pickup junior has bowed out of the marathon citing the pressures of a young family and an increasing workload, leaving the “old man” to carry the family name as well as the flag for Chambers through the streets of the capital on 26 April.
Jim is running the Marathon in support of WaterAid (bringing clean water for drinking and sanitation to remote villages in the developing world). If you would like to donate or read more about their work, go to Jim’s fundraising page at: