By his own admission Steve Andrew is something of a reluctant runner.

But that hasn’t stopped him from entering this year’s London Marathon even though he’s been running only for “five or six years”.

Born in Aberdeen, the recently-turned 55-year-old moved to Newcastle in 2000 before migrating further south to this part of the world in 2014.

“I was always a hill walker,” he said. “In the Cairngorms and along the West Coast, I never saw myself as a runner.”

That was until he met his partner Alison Robinson, who is big into her running and who he describes as “super fast”.

“I remember going for my first run,” he laughed. “It was two miles and I thought I was going to die!”

Having survived that he continued to run – “Love is blind,” he said – although he admitted it never came easily to him.

“I had a mental barrier at about four miles,” he explained. “I did the occasional 10K which is about six miles, but after four miles, physically and mentally, I’d had enough and I’d stop.”
Happily, bearing in mind the challenge he’s got coming up in the capital on Sunday 28th April, he’s now overcome that problem.

“I joined Stroud and District Athletic Club a couple of years ago,” he explained, “and amazingly I was running further within two or three weeks.

“The coaches for my group – Sabrina Pace-Humphreys and Sharon Stevenson – would say ‘well done’ at the end of the run and tell us we’d run five-and-a-half or six miles. I couldn’t believe it.”

Last year he did 11 half marathons which as he says isn’t bad when you consider the four-mile mental block he had two years ago.

He also did a number of 10Ks and 10-milers but he has yet to run a marathon.

That’s something his partner has done – some 53 of them – which she takes in her stride.

Steve, who lives in Stroud and is a programmer manager for Gloucestershire County Council, says his target is six hours for his marathon debut although he added, “I’m hoping to go well underneath that”.

He has a best half marathon time of two hours, 26, so there is cause for optimism and he said: “I’ll never be fast but my goal is never to be last.”

He’s actually run further competitively than 13.1 miles although he didn’t know it at the time.

“It was in the Exmoor Trail last October,” he explained. “Someone had mischievously messed around with the signage which meant we actually ran 16-and-a-half miles.

“Trail races are always hard and I was pretty shattered!”

And that wasn’t all because after completing 16-plus miles his partner had an idea.

“She said if you can do 16-and-a-half miles, it’s not much further to do a marathon,” he laughed.

So, in the nicest possible way, does he ever regret meeting his other half? “When I’ve run four or five miles,” he said, still laughing.

“I always said I’d do one marathon but it had to be big.”

They don’t come much bigger than the London Marathon of course and Steve will be raising money for Meningitis NOW, a charity that means a lot to him.

“Last year we fostered a greyhound,” he explained. “We were supposed to have her for a couple of weeks but we had her for three or four months.

“She was recovering form meningitis. Her name was Macey and she was a really nice greyhound, so sweet.

“The Meningitis Trust heard about her and she became their poster girl for their WAG campaign (Walk and Give).”

He has to raise a minimum of £2,000 and admits to initially feeling “nervous and stressed” about having to raise that amount of money.

That concern has since passed and he’s hoping to raise more than £2,000.

“My friends at the running club and my work colleagues and staff from Meningitis NOW have been absolutely brilliant,” he said.

“With the help of good friends Claire Forgione, Carmel Ponsford, Gareth Ponsford and of course Alison we organised a brilliant quiz and with local businesses and individuals contributing to a raffle at Cainscross Rugby Club, that raised £610.

“Now I’m less stressed about the money and I’m trying to focus on running the marathon.

“I’m still a reluctant runner, but I’m going on three runs a week and I’m looking forward to the crowds helping to get me round in London.”

He was there last year when Alison was running and he said: “The atmosphere is fantastic. To be on the other side of the barrier this year will be amazing.”

It certainly will!

If you would like to support Meningitis NOW and Steve’s efforts, go to his Just Giving page https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SteveAndrew2