75-year-old Blackborough End man Stewart South to complete eighth marathon in October

A 75-year-old man has decided to hang up his running shoes after completing his eighth marathon next month.

Stewart South from Blackborough End was inspired to start running marathons to raise money for Kidney Research UK after his two sons Joel and Oliver suffered kidney failure.

In 1999, Stewart donated one of his kidneys to his son Joel and after his surgery decided to start running to get fit again.

He has run marathons across the world, from London to New York as well as Amsterdam, Dublin and Edinburgh along with a virtual marathon during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As my body is creaking a bit it will be my final 26.2 mile event; after that I will only run much shorter distances,” said Stewart.

On October 15, Stewart will be heading to York to take part in the Yorkshire Marathon to raise money once again for Kidney Research UK.

Stewart said: “This year I have run some 5K parkruns, completed the King’s Lynn GEAR 10K and run the Sandringham Half Marathon, the latter in blistering heat and energy-sapping humidity.”

In preparation for the marathon, Stewart has been completing solo training runs , building up the distance to around 20 miles and he’s even planning on taking part in the Sandringham 10K at the end of this month.

Stewart added: “Incidentally, the great Olympian Sir Mo Farah retired from marathon running this year at the age of 40, but I didn’t actually start running marathons until my mid-fifties – with one kidney.

“Both our sons are in their forties now and Joel had a second kidney transplant two years ago. There are all sorts of issues and complications that have to be overcome with kidney failure, even if you are fortunate enough to have a transplant.”

More than 3 million people in the UK are living with severe kidney disease.

To donate towards Stewart’s final marathon, visit: www.justgiving.com/StewartSouth