In-form Chris Nicholls is targeting the Apperley Quarter Marathon next month and it’s a race he wants to win.

The 44-year-old Severn Athletic Club runner finished fifth last year and he’s confident that he can do better on Saturday 4th October.

And that confidence would appear to be well-placed because he’s made huge strides in the sport since taking it up some five or six years ago.

He regularly runs anything from 5K to half-marathon and says that 10K is his favourite. 

He has a PB of 38 minutes, 15 seconds for 10K – his best for 5K is 17.50 and he’s run a half-marathon in 1.17.50 – and he’s looking to improve on all those times.

“My times are getting better all the time,” said Nicholls, who lives in Tewkesbury with his partner Rachael and their two children.

“I want to slice a couple of minutes off everything next year.

“I want to run 16 minutes in the 5K, even if it’s 16.59, and I think I’ve got it in me to get into 36 minutes in the 10K.”

Running has become a huge passion for Nicholls – he’s now a qualified England Athletics coach – so what made him get into the sport?

“I was taking my boy up to bed one evening and I was out of breath,” he recalled.

“I weighed myself and to my horror I was 19-and-a-half stone.

“I’m 6ft 1in and I’d always had it in my head that I was 13 or 14 stone.

“Everything just crept up on me, I was morbidly obese.”

He initially joined Tewkesbury Running Club, something he describes as “the best thing I ever did”.

“It was great to have people help and support you,” said Nicholls, who these days weighs 12-and-a-half stone.

“Running on your own is quite demanding mentally, sharing the load is quite fortifying.”

His times improved quite dramatically and although he now runs for Severn AC – “I love the club, I love the people,” he said – Tewkesbury remain his second claim club.

“I still go to all their socials,” he said.

And while he’s clearly having fun, he’s certainly been putting in the hard yards too because he’s also run five marathons with a best time of four hours, 10 minutes.

“I’ve done all of them for the experience, I’ve never raced a marathon,” he said.

That may change in the future!