Horsham man's 24 park runs in 24 hours for charity

Hadley O’Dwyer, 32, started at 10am this morning on the first of 24 park runs (5km) in 24 hours, finishing at 9am tomorrow (Saturday July 28), joining in with the weekly Horsham Park Run that sees hundreds of people taking part.

Hadley, a member of Horsham Joggers and Horsham Trinity FC, is raising awareness and funds for OcuMelUK, a charity aiming to provide information and support to anyone affected by ocular melanoma.

He said: “A good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with ocular melanoma during a regular eye test and was sent straight to A&E.”

According to OcuMelUK, ocular melanoma is the most common kind of eye cancer in adults with approximately 600 new cases of uveal melanoma in the UK each year.

“Unfortunately, around half of all patients may go on to develop tumours in other organs, particularly the liver.”

The charity run has been organised for some weeks but it has coincided with one of the hottest days so far!

“I’m most concerned about the heat, but I prefer that to pouring rain!” said Hadley.

The plan is to run a park run in around 30 minutes (slower than his usual time) and then have half an hour break.

“I may do some back to back, though, during the night so I can grab some sleep!”

Hadley thanked Horsham District Council who have allowed him to pitch a small marquee in the park as protection from the weather.

If you want to donate to to Hadley’s ‘moneygiving’ charity page go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=ocumeluk24hr&pageUrl=1

See also:

Horsham heart victim says thanks to the ‘heroes’ who saved him

Horsham’s Cote announces re-opening date