He will be running 12 half marathons in 12 months
A Cambridgeshire dad has set himself the task of running 12 half marathons in 12 months. Tom Mayard, 39, lives in Ely with his wife, Rachael, their three-year-old son Rex, and daughter Dottie, seven, who is profoundly deaf. It is Dottie who has inspired the mammoth marathon challenge, as Tom will be raising funds for the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Dottie was born profoundly deaf with enlarged vestibular aqueducts and Mondini malformation. She wears cochlear implants in both ears and was fitted the first at 14 months old, in May 2019, and the second a few months later. However despite the challenges Dottie has faced, she is thriving in mainstream school where her teachers wear a mini mic that sends sound straight to her implants.
Tom says that listening still takes a lot of concentration for Dottie. He said: “It’s very tiring and she often crashes out as soon as she gets home from school. Night-time is particularly hard. When she takes her cochlear implants off, her world is completely silent and dark and that’s very isolating for her. We usually sit with her until she falls asleep.”
Tom and his wife are hoping that they can get a hearing dog for Dottie in the future. Tom said: “The way the dogs alert their partners to important and often life-saving sounds is amazing. But more than that, it’s about companionship and comfort. Just having a dog with her at nighttime would help Dottie feel safer and more secure.”
Tom began the challenge in December, and is using it as a way ot mark his 40th birthday. But he is no stranger to running, having completed several London Marathons, his first of which was in 2014.
He said: “When I realised my 40th was coming up, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to run a half marathon every month in the lead-up to November. But I also wanted it to mean something.”
Training started for Tom in September. His routine has consisted of a run on Tuesdays, often through Regent’s Park, near to where he works in Soho, another run on Thursday and a longer run at the weekends. Tom has already completed his first three races: ‘T’was the run before Christmas’ in Brandon near Bury St Edmunds, ‘Run for Cake’ in Peterborough and ‘Windmill Way Wander in Bury St Edmunds.
This Sunday (March 8), Tom will be taking on the Cambridge Half. Following that, he plans to take part in events in Manchester, the Goodwood Moto circuit, and Bath. He’ll also be taking on the Great North Run in Newcastle in September. His final race of the year will be in November at Alton Towers where runners can celebrate at the end with a ride or two.
To support Tom’s challenge and raise funds for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, donations can be made via his fundraising page.