Raglan man runs daily half-marathon for charity

James Peters, who is 38 and from Raglan, has now completed 80 consecutive half marathons and hopes to hit the big 100 by Christmas Eve.

The gruelling challenge sees him wake up at half past four every morning to run 13.1 miles around the sleepy Monmouthshire countryside before returning just in time to have breakfast with his two children at seven o’clock.

Mr Peters, who works in endoscopy, said he wanted to raise £2,000 for the incredible effort of medical staff in helping to detect bowel cancer early.

So far, his JustGiving page has raised almost £1,300.

James Peters is up at 4.30am every morning to complete his challenge of running a half marathon every day until Christmas Eve.

“I work with a lot of nurses and doctors that focus on cancer treatments,” Mr Peters told the Argus.

“They’ve worked ridiculously hard throughout the pandemic, and this is in part to raise awareness of the incredible work they do.

“I’ve had a couple of close family members that have had bowel cancer in the past.

“One didn’t actually go for a bowel screening even though he was eligible. Luckily, he’s been given the all clear now.

“The other was recently screened for bowel cancer and they were able to catch it in time so they’re now on the mend too.”

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer with over 42,000 people being diagnosed every year in the UK.

Screening checks are offered to everybody aged 60 and over – including some 56-year-olds.

“It’s really important that people take up these screening offers,” Mr Peters added.

“Bowel cancer can happen to anyone and the earlier you can detect it, the better.”

Mr Peters, who ran 1,000 kilometres in 30 days last November for the same cause, said he wouldn’t take up another challenge of this scale again.

“It’s a pretty tough thing to do and next year I’m going to be focussing on triathlons more.”

You can find Mr Peters’ JustGiving page here.