Grays man Cy halfway through ten marathon challenge for Little Havens

A THURROCK MAN is celebrating reaching the mid-point of running ten marathons for Little Havens Hospice by running another 26.2 miles.

Cy Honeyman, 38 from Grays, and Jon Garthwaite, 38 from Southampton, are mid-way through their challenge to run ten marathons each in a year to raise £10,000 for Little Havens Hospice. The men took on the challenge in memory of Cy’s daughter, and Jon’s goddaughter, Megan who would have celebrated her 10th birthday this year. Megan had a life-limiting illness known as Global Developmental Delay. She was also diagnosed with Epilepsy and both conditions caused a complex list of symptoms which grew increasingly difficult to manage. When Megan was three, the family turned to Little Havens Hospice for respite care.

In 2009 Megan’s condition deteriorated. She died peacefully at her family home in December that year aged six years old. Since starting their challenge on 22nd March 2013, the day after what would have been Megan’s 10th birthday, the duo has completed over 1,000 miles of training, eleven marathons between them and raised close to £4,000 for the hospice.

Cy said, “Through Meg’s short life, Little Havens was always there for us. They let us have a slice of normality in our lives.”

To mark their achievements so far, Cy and Jon celebrated by running an additional marathon on a treadmill outside the Morrisons supermarket in Grays on 23rd July, welcoming donations from the shop’s customers.

Cy added, “The first three runs were really difficult in very poor weather conditions, so we were very pleased to get those out of the way. Fortunately, I have found the others to be more straightforward but I do need to catch up with Jon who is one ahead of me! I want to thank everyone who has been so generous in supporting us. It has been amazing to travel the country to complete these marathons, meeting so many people, and sharing our story with them. It’s a really special way to honour Megan.”

Peter Hall, Community Fundraiser for Little Havens, said, “It’s fantastic that Cy and Jon are getting on so well with their amazing challenge for Little Havens. I wish them the best of luck with completing their challenge and look forward to celebrating with them at the end, 524 miles later. Little Havens doesn’t charge a penny for the care it provides and that simply wouldn’t be possible without people like Cy and Jon taking on extraordinary challenges, and of course their friends, families, colleagues and the public for supporting them with donations.”

Their next marathon takes place in Salisbury on 11th August, with the challenge eventually culminating on 2nd November for the Spooky Halloween Marathon in Shropshire. You can sponsor Cy and Jon to help them to reach their final target, by donating online at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CyHoneyman.

Find out more about Little Havens at havenshospices.org.uk or call 01702 220350.