Leigh man set to race past the 100th run mark
KEEP on running – that’s just what marathon man Malcolm Collins intends to do.
After chalking up his 99th marathon in the Blackpool event at the weekend, the Leigh athlete is set to keep on chalking up the miles.
At the end of the month he will compete in his 100th such event at the Manchester Marathon and then plans to take part in a ‘10 marathons in 10 days’ charity event around Windermere.
Malcolm, aged 44, is a member of Astley and Tyldesley Road Runners and grew up in Boothstown.
The former Boothstown Holy Family and St Mary’s RC High pupil now runs Ince firm Collins’ Reinforcements with his brother Paul, specialising in metalwork for building foundations.
At one stage in his running career Malcolm did particularly well at fell running, earning himself the nickname Mountain Goat. Now my friends at A&T have started calling me Marathon Man,” said father-of-two Malcolm, who lives in Green Lane with his wife Yuk-Lam and their children Abbey, aged 10, and Lucas, seven.
Yuk-Lam has herself competed in three half marathons and will be cheering him on with fellow A&T club members in Manchester.
“I suppose I run an average of 2,000 miles a year, although this past year I’ve done 2,500. I get through quite a few pairs of trainers,” said Malcolm, whose average race time is three-and-a-half hours.
“As I have got older, all that seems to matter less but it is still nice to reflect on the PBs I have achieved. I don’t really consider myself a serious runner, nor a fun runner. I don’t need others to motivate me to run and I certainly don’t do it to diet.
“I do enjoy the challenge of completing different marathons but finishing times are becoming increasingly irrelevant to me.
“These days I run because I simply just love running, for the pure pleasure it brings me.”
Thank you to Brian Gomm for this artical in the Leigh Journal on 11th April 2013.
