A FITNESS enthusiast is planning to run 250 miles in a bid to beat his £5,000 fundraising target for The Royal British Legion.

Richard Smith, aged 31, will run over 200 miles from Chorley to London, before finishing his challenge by running in the London Marathon as part of The Royal British Legion team.

Richard, who works as an office manager for Cool Tech Air Conditioning in Smithills and also leads a local running club, is hoping to raise more than £5,000 for the charity that provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces community.

Richard said: “I’ve taken part in lots of different fitness challenges over the years, so when I thought about the marathon, I decided to do something a bit different to try and raise as much money as possible. By the time I reach the marathon, it’ll be the shortest leg of the run and will be more like my cool-down, so I’ll probably be the only person there looking forward to those 26 miles!

“The Royal British Legion is my chosen charity because I have friends in the military and it was my childhood dream to join the Royal Marines, I went on to join when I was 23 and I completed 10 months of my officer training. The Royal British Legion is a charity that’s close to my heart; I know the money will go to a good cause and I want to raise as much as I can.”

Richard’s passion for fitness began at a young age. He said: “I’ve always been very active, I’ve played rugby since I was 11 and I starting running while I was at school. When I decided I wanted to join the Marines my life revolved around getting fit and living a healthy lifestyle. When I left the Marines, I changed career and became a regional manager for British Military Fitness, which was when fitness became my day job as well as my hobby. The first obstacle race I signed up for was one called Tough Guy and since then I’ve taken part in loads of different Iron Man challenges, marathons and adventure races.”

Together with his 250 mile run in April, Richard is also training for the Ironman UK challenge in July. He said: “I’ve started getting up at 6am and running to and from work which is 8 miles each way. At the moment I’m doing around 10 hours of training every week, including runs with my running club, but nearer the time that will go up to 15 hours every week.”

To sponsor Richard, visit his Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/Rich-runs-to-London. If you’re interested in running with Richard when his challenge begins on Monday 18th April, he will be posting the routes on his ‘Rich Runs to London’ Facebook page