An engineer from Sheffield-based rail depot equipment specialists, Mechan, has made a marathon effort to raise more than £850 for a charity that supports the terminally ill.
Mechan’s Jonathan Smith completed this year’s London Marathon in a personal best time of three hours and 23 minutes, to raise funds for the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home in Hertfordshire.
Southern service engineer, Jonathan, finished the London Marathon in 3376th place from a field of 35,000 runners. He said, “Conditions in London were perfect and the support from the crowd was amazing – the noise around the finish at Parliament and Buckingham Palace was deafening! I’d like to thank all of my friends and colleagues for supporting the Iain Rennie Hospice and helping me raise such a substantial sum of money.”
Jonathan, who is based in Tring, is responsible for the servicing, repair and installation needs of Mechan’s clients in the south of England. This was his first attempt at the London Marathon, despite having completed ten long distance races in just six years, including courses in Paris and Vancouver.
Richard Carr, Mechan’s managing director, added, “We are very proud of Jonathan’s efforts at the weekend. All of his colleagues in Sheffield know what a keen runner he is and we were in no doubt that he would finish the London course, but to come so far up such an enormous field is a real achievement. On behalf of everyone at Mechan, we’d like to congratulate him on his marathon success.”
The Iain Rennie Hospice at Home provides specialist nursing care to patients who wish to stay at home during the final stages of a terminal illness.