Mark Wishart, a senior recruitment consultant at Pure in Cambridge, completed the Milton Keynes marathon on Monday (1 May) and has so far raised £830 for Delays star, and close friend, Greg Gilbert to receive cancer treatment abroad.

This was Mark’s first full marathon in 18 years and he decided to take on the challenge to help raise funds for his friend Greg Gilbert, better known to many as a member of the indie band Delays. Greg, the singer, and guitarist in the band, which had four acclaimed albums, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, which has also spread to his lungs. A national campaign has been launched to help raise the funds needed for the 39-year-old to go abroad for potentially life-saving treatment not currently available on the NHS.

Mark, who lives in St Ives, completed the marathon in an impressive three hours and 22 minutes, beating his own target of three and a half hours.

He said: “I was really pleased with my time, especially considering an injury meant I’d lost out on a lot of training time in the weeks leading up to the day. It was great to see the finish line in sight and there was a fantastic atmosphere on the final stretch as the route ended with us running into the MK Dons stadium where people were cheering us all on.

“Most importantly I’m delighted to have been able to raise money for a cause which is so close to my heart.  I’ve known Greg for sixteen years and he is an incredibly talented guy and the news of his illness was a huge shock. He has two young girls and having two children myself this really resonated with me. There has already been lots of fundraising across the UK which is not just helping Greg but raising awareness overall. The support for him has been unbelievable and this has been my way of adding to it. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me.”

As a keen runner and a member of the Huntingdonshire Athletics Running Club, Mark is already thinking about the next possible marathon he could take part in and has entered the ballot to take part in the London Marathon 2018.

To add to Mark’s fundraising, visit his Just Giving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Marathon4Greg