London Marathon: King's Cliffe runner raises £3,500 for the NSPCC

Marathon runner Jonty Armitage missed out on his target time by an agonising three minutes in London, but smashed his fundraising target for a children’s charity.

Jonty, from King’s Cliffe, raised £3,500 for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) after completing the London Marathon on Sunday.

He set out to raise £2,200 for his cause, but cruised past that thanks to donations and a community event in his village church which made £800. To donate, click here.

The father-of-two took up running in 2019 and has now run marathons in Paris and London.

He also ran an ‘unofficial’ marathon of his own design after the 2020 Paris Marathon was cancelled due to covid.

Having clocked 4hr 10mins in Paris last year, Jonty set out to beat the four-hour mark in London, but fell just shy, crossing the line in 4.03.49.

“My running app went a bit haywire and told me I’d finished in 3hrs 50 when I could clearly see the Houses of Parliament were still about a mile away down the Embankment,” he said.

“I had the consolation that I knew I couldn’t have done it any faster.

“I was going well and had paced it pretty well and did he first half in about 1.56 which was about spot on. But then the sun came out and it got really hot. By about mile 22 I had probably dried out.”

Yet Jonty was overwhelmed by the support from the huge crowds.

“It was an amazing experience, joyful and uplifting all the way around,” he said.

“If you run with your name emblazoned on a charity shirt people will cheer your name the entire way.

“Given everything that is going on in the world, having London full of joy with people all being kind to each other and friendly was quite an experience.”