Business Owners Plans to Walk Five Marathons in Five Days in Memory of His Late Wife

The 42-year-old who lives in Bristol and runs his own business from Corsham, Wiltshire, will attempt to walk five marathons in five days between Monday March 20 and Friday March 24 from Plymouth to Bristol. He is undertaking the challenge in memory of his late wife Gloria.

 

A huge fan of football, he will start walking at the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club and will end at Bristol Rover’s Football Club. He will be supported by members of a national business networking organisation – 4Networking (4N). Mark has been a 4N member for eight years and has been thrilled by the support fellow members have offered.  

 

Mark said:  “What has kept me going more than anything has been my membership in 4N. Although I originally joined the group to support my business, being a member has been a massive support on a personal level.”

“Showing up at those meetings has really been a lifeline. There’s so much more to it than swapping cards and making business contacts. Practically all of my best friends have been made at 4N meetings.

“Recently Brad Burton, the founder of 4N, has been so personally supportive too. This year, when he undertook a founder’s tour around the country he also raised money wherever he went.”

 

Everyone involved will be raising money for the charitable foundation Mark set up in memory of Gloria Brimson. She died in June 2007 after suffering a heart attack days after an operation on her brain. She had an arteriovenous malformation– a tangle of abnormal and poorly formed blood vessels in her brain.

 

Mark explained “On the ninth anniversary of her death last year I hit a real low point. I desperately needed to take some kind of action to help me move on. There and then I decided to spend twelve months raising money for Headway Bristol which supports brain injury sufferers, their families and carers. It’s been good for me as well as the charity; it’s given me a real lift and Headway have since asked me to be an ambassador for them. It’s been a really humbling experience.”

 

Mark, who runs a payment services company Payment First, is already halfway towards reaching his target of £10,000 thanks to supporters running half marathons, family fun nights and individual collections. Mark also plans to run a dinner dance later in the year.

 

Anyone interested in donating can do so by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Mark-Brimson1

 

4Networking is the UK’s #1 joined up national business network providing sales leads, support, contacts and trusted suppliers for its thousands of members. It runs more than 5,000 events a year and has more than 250 active groups. All members can visit any group anywhere in the UK.