Man completes walking marathon around Shrewsbury in memory of grandad
A Shrewsbury man completed a 26-mile walking challenge around Shrewsbury, the equivalent of a marathon, in honour of his grandad who passed away this year.
Shaun Owen, aged 23, wanted to do something to raise money for the Midlands Air Ambulance - his grandad Kenneth Bates' favourite charity.
Kenneth passed away on October 2 and Shaun was inspired to try and walk 24 hours around Shrewsbury last Friday – due to injuries he managed to complete 10 hours and reach the equivalent distance of a marathon.
"I just wanted to do something for my grandad really," he said.
"He would probably be the last person to expect me to do something like this. I am a personal trainer so I'm always quite an active person anyway.
"But I wanted to do something that challenged me but was also something I could honour my grandad by. For whatever silly reason I was going to try and walk 24 hours around Shrewsbury.
Happy
"My grandad had a caravan in mid Wales so I was considering doing something there. But in the end I thought I know Shrewsbury, it's safe, and has street lights for when I'm walking at night.
"Also, because I'm a personal trainer, some of my clients wanted to join me at points in the walk, and if I was in Shrewsbury they could easily do that. I felt this very much helped me because it took my focus off the walking and I could just have conversations with people."
While completing the challenge on Friday, Shaun ran into some physical difficulties and couldn't carry on but said mentally, he knew he could have done it.
"I'm really pleased with that," he said. "My fundraising target was £500 and we are nearly there so hopefully we will reach it.
"While I was doing it I was extremely happy that I'd made the effort to do it. I don't regret doing it. It was definitely worth it – for my grandad and for a good cause."
To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/24-hour-sponsored-walk-around-shrewsbury.
