Upper Sixth student Ollie has set himself an incredible challenge for next spring – running the 2026 London Marathon in aid of Societi, the UK Foundation for Kawasaki Disease.
Although this will be his first marathon, Ollie is already well into training. “I previously ran during primary school but mainly only trained since being at Trinity as an extension of my other sports,” he explains. “Training is going well so far, and I’ve dragged a couple of my rugby mates out to keep me company!”
Ollie is running for Societi as, in 2017, his younger cousin Thomas was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, which is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in the UK. After two months in intensive care, Thomas thankfully made a full recovery, though he had to re-learn to walk and carry out daily tasks.
“I’m running for Societi to help fund their work raising awareness of symptoms and expanding clinical research of the disease,” says Ollie. “Hopefully over time other families will be as lucky as ours and see the recovery of their affected loved ones.”
Balancing training and schoolwork isn’t always easy, especially as Ollie is now in his final year at Trinity, but he says the benefits make it worthwhile: “Running gives a good break from schoolwork, although it’s definitely important to stay on top of homework to make time for training!”
We wish Ollie the very best in his training and fundraising efforts ahead of the marathon in April.
You can support Ollie’s fundraising for Societi here
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