Funds raised through marathon effort will make a 'massive difference', says Worcestershire man
University of Worcester's deputy chief information officer Chris Garratt completed the London Marathon at the weekend wearing full graduation attire and fundraising for their Student Scholarship and Hardship fund
A University of Worcester staff member who ran the London Marathon wearing full graduation attire has highlighted raising funds to support students as the most important bit to it all.
Chris Garratt from Kempsey completed the event on Sunday (26 April) wearing a suit, along with the cap and gown and a pair of trainers.
The deputy chief information officer, who's worked at the university for nearly 30 years, was doing it to attempt to break a Guinness World Record of being the fastest man to do a marathon in the gear and to fundraise for the university's student scholarship and hardship fund.
In total, he's raised over a £1,000, with fellow staff member from the press team Justyn Surrall also completing the marathon and raising over £2,000 for the same cause.
"It’s going to make a massive difference to so many students," Garratt said.
"In terms of getting that money raised for students that was the main goal and also sort of raising everyone’s awareness that students do go through hardship.
So it helps in so many different ways, it could be the difference between them staying in university and becoming a nurse or a paramedic or having to leave because they just cannot afford to eat."
During the marathon, Garratt said he was "on track" to break the record of 3 hours, 31 minutes and 11 seconds, up until he "hit the wall" at 24 miles.
He ended up missing out on the record and said he would have to have a think before committing to doing it again.
On describing what he remembers when crossing the finishing line, he said: "I thought, oh, I'll just have a little sit down, which you never should do after a marathon you should always keep walking.
"Then the next thing I was in the medical tent in a wheelchair, I don't know what happened, but I must have passed out.
"They got me round, got some fluids in me, and I was off again, but I just left it all out there and I really couldn't have given any more to be honest."