Rutland County Councillor completes Yorkshire Marathon for Unreal UK charity in memory of late friend
The loss of a close friend to suicide inspired a councillor to tackle a storm-lashed route and complete his first marathon.
Stephen Lambert joined thousands of runners at the Yorkshire Marathon yesterday (Sunday, October 20), just a few days before what would have been Jeff Jones’ 40th birthday.
Jeff took his own life earlier this year after long-running mental health battles, particularly depersonalization-derealization disorder (DPDR), a condition which causes sufferers to feel disconnected from their own thoughts, feelings, and surroundings.
Stephen, who is Rutland County Councillor for Uppingham and Beaumont Chase, ran in aid of Unreal UK, a charity which specialises in helping DPDR sufferers.
“Jeff was very keen on running and got me through my first Parkrun, so I put the two things together,” he said.
“It was nice to be able to do something to make a difference for people who are in that position.
“Jeff relied on it a lot and it really helped him, and I’m sure there are a lot of people out there going through the same thing.
“Obviously in the end it wasn’t enough for Jeff, but for other people it might be.”
He added: “Despite his daily struggles he was the most amazing and caring person.
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“We all knew he was struggling and was going through a rough patch, but it came completely out of the blue. It was a real shock.”
Stephen has so far raised more than £1,200 and needs just a little push to reach his £1,500 target which would make a huge difference to the small charity.
“They told me that £1,000 is enough to fund their peer support service for six months,” he said.
“So if we can get it to £1,500 that would be nine months of funding.”
To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/page/slambert24
A previous fundraising challenge, three years ago, saw Stephen run 100 miles in a month for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
But prior to Sunday he had run no further than 15-and-a-half miles in one go as injury severely limited his training regime in the previous six weeks.
Stephen then faced torrential rain and galeforce winds for the majority of the 26.2-mile ordeal as Storm Ashley swept through.
“The night before in York with my family I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it, but it just all came together on the day,” he said.
“As a runner you have bad days and good days, where it feels awful or you feel that you could go on forever. I just happened to have a good day.”