29th September, 2022, Melanie Harriss
Dan Jastrzebski, partner at Stephenson Smart and Andy Doyle, IT Manager will be taking on the London Marathon on Sunday, 2 October.
Andy will be running his second marathon in the capital to raise money for East Anglia's Children’s Hospices, the company’s chosen charity for the year, while Dan is taking on his first race for the St John Ambulance.
Andy said: “I’ve had a four-month training plan. I did the GEAR 10k here in King’s Lynn, the Great North Run, a 10k at Holkham, a half marathon at Sandringham in June and some runs and events with my running group Renegade Runners.
“Training has been more challenging because it’s taken place in the summer instead of the winter. I did a lot of early morning runs to contend with the heat. I was getting up at 4am so I could finish before it got too hot.
“I’ve been running for six years as a hobby just to keep fit, I’ve got to that age where I can’t rely on nature looking after me properly!”
Dan gained a charity place with St John Ambulance after volunteers supported a work colleague during a previous London Marathon.
He said: “I started my training in July and I did the Great North Run, but all the other runs have been training runs locally.
“I’m up to 21 miles so far and my plan is to leave a bit for the day. Hopefully the crowds will carry me through!”
Andy is hoping to finish quicker than his 2021 time of 3.57, while Dan would like to cruise across the line in four-and-a-half hours.
Both are part of a core group of athletes at the King Street office, which also includes Neil Gayton, who took on an ultra-marathon of 48 miles earlier this year.
“I don’t know if there’s a link between accountancy and sport, but there are quite a few of us who run,” said Dan.
“We are very office based, so it’s nice to have that element of releasing some energy and getting out and about. It just helps you to unwind, relax and have a work/life balance.”
Andy added: “I can remember the first London Marathon when I was 10 in about 1981. It’s always been something once a year we would sit and watch and I never imagined I would run it once, let alone twice!”
