A soldier from Ellesmere Port is gearing up for the Rotterdam marathon after a cracking finish in a race around Los Angeles.
Richard Hughes, 27, was nominated for a Pioneer Your Champions award last year.
The former Whitby High School student is part way through two years of training to become an avionics technician with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) carrying out maintenance on Apache helicopters.
After winning two top prizes at his passing out parade in front of proud mum Sue, also from Ellesmere Port, he is taking on new challenges to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The first was the LA Marathon which he completed in the fine time of 3hrs 26min crossing the line 623rd out of 21,506 finishers putting him in the top 3%.
“It was extremely hot which made it even tougher, the temperature reached about 28 degrees,” he said.
“My legs started to get tight and show signs of cramping around the 22 mile point but I managed to battle through and make it to the end.
“The feeling when I crossed the finish line was euphoric, it was such a proud moment.”
Back at the Army’s School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering in Berkshire he added:“My legs were absolutely useless because of the aches and pains.
“However I will be putting myself back through it all again when I do the Rotterdam marathon on April 13.”
Richard’s trade training will last around two years.
“The good thing is we get the chance to do a lot of a sports while we are here.
“I won the corps boxing championship last November which makes me the REME middleweight boxing champion,” he said.
He describes fitting in up to 24 hours training a week around the day job as ‘tough’.
People can support Richard’s efforts through
