Essex dad raises over £20,000 for cancer charity ahead of Everest marathon challenge
James Roe is fundraising with events before he leaves for the Himalayas in May
An Essex dad who will be running "one of the toughest challenges on the planet" has raised over £20,000 for Young Lives vs Cancer.
He is preparing for his Everest marathon challenge, where he will be running over 40 kilometres at the altitude of 5,000 feet.
James Roe is completing this run in memory of his stepson Logan, who died from neuroblastoma at just three years old.
He is raising money with events until he leaves for the Himalayas in May.
One of these events is being run today in Chigwell, where James will be training at a virtual Everest Event with a Himalayan backdrop at David Lloyd.
He will be using running machines, snow machines, and a simulation mask to try and emulate the Everest climate.
James will be flying out to Asia on his 50th birthday on the 18th of May, before a ten day trek to Everest base camp.
He is then set to start his marathon on the 29th of May.
James said training has been tough and emotional, but it is preparing him for the event:
"We're doing endless amounts of running and swimming. We're doing strength and conditioning works.
"I actually fly out on May the 18th, which is my 50th birthday. So I am leaving Heathrow, fly to Delhi, which I think is about 10 hours, then from Delhi to Kathmandu.
"We get a helicopter from Kathmandu to the Himalayas airport and then we start trekking.
"We arrive at base camp on the 28th of May, spend the night at base camp in a tent in possible freezing conditions, 50% less air.
"I'm excited and nervous, I've got to admit.
"As its starting to get a bit closer and a bit more real I've definitely started thinking a little bit more.
"I've just been trying to draw inspiration off of Logan and the Young Lives vs Cancer."
James said he is "super excited" for the event:
"I've put a lot of time in and I'm trying to do everything as correctly as I think it should be done with the right sort of training and different things that we're doing.
"I want to go there and perform at my best."