A West Midlands construction company worker is busy laying the foundations for a successful London Marathon by pounding the streets in training for the world-famous event.
Lance Collins, design manager at West Bromwich-based Anglo Holt Construction, will be taking part in the London Marathon for the fifth time, raising money for the British Lung Foundation. This year’s Virgin London Marathon takes place on Sunday, April 22.
Lance, aged 54, from Harborne, ran for the same charity in 2006, 2007 and 2008, raising more than £10,500. Last year he raised over £2,500 for the Bobath Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy.
He has been spending much of his spare time following a strict training regime, clocking up mile after mile on the streets around his home town.
Lance said: “I’ve been following a training programme but it hasn’t been easy with all the cold weather we’ve had lately. Last year’s event was at the other weather extreme, it was very warm and I, along with many others, really suffered in the heat.
“My best time so far was in 2006, my first London Marathon, when I finished with a time of four hours 24 minutes. I’m hoping to get closer to the four-hour mark this year but there is no exact science to the event, especially with the changeable weather conditions. I’ve had a lot of support from family, friends and colleagues at Anglo Holt which is helping to motivate me to achieve a good time.”
Anglo Holt managing director Andy Elwell said: “For Lance to have already raised more than £13,000 for charity by completing four London Marathons is a tremendous achievement. We’re right behind him in his bid to complete a fifth marathon, raising much-needed funds for an excellent cause. We’ll be cheering him on – from the comfort of our armchairs of course.”
Anglo Holt provides a seamless and fully integrated design and construction service, specialising in the design and construction of industrial and commercial buildings for clients on a nationwide basis. Based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, the company has an annual turnover in excess of £50 million and employs around 100 people. Its objective is to guarantee to deliver quality, reliability and added value throughout the total process of design, construction, project management and cost management.
To support Lance visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LanceCollins