Adventure of a lifetime in Nepal for teenager from Biggleswade

Jake Simmons, 18, has been on a gap year since leaving Stratton Upper School last summer and has had the opportunity to explore the sport.

After a number of achievements over the last few months, he is planning and fundraising for a trip to Nepal in November to run with a social enterprise organisation called Impact Marathon.

It uses the power of running to spread good throughout the world and in the week-long event, Jake will begin by volunteering with residents of Nepal to work on sustainable development projects.

At the end of the week, he will be racing in the Shivapuri National Park, including over 1,000m of climbing.

He said: “This would be the absolute adventure of a lifetime for me and something that would be an amazing achievement that would remain as such for the rest of my life.

“I have learnt so much through running, mentally and technically.”

Jake has been running since the age of 12 and for his very first event - the Leicester half marathon last October - he decided to fundraise for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

He said: “I felt raising money for the BHF was the right thing to do since they help individuals like myself who has had a heart condition (critical pulmonary stenosis) which I still have.”

He raised £525 and came in with the time of 1:51:31 at the half marathon.

Jake has since completed other races and has more planned for this year, including a run from the west coast of the Isle of Wight to the east.

He is now busy fundraising for his trip to Nepal and you can help him at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jakerun-nepal

More details on the project and races in Nepal at https://www.impactmarathon.com/