By Graham Thomas
Welsh jockey Alan Johns will saddle up for the Loch Ness Marathon on Sunday – less than 48 hours after he hopes to ride a monster winner at Worcester.
Johns will catch a flight from Bristol – and a fast car – to the Scottish Highlands in order to raise funds for Latch, the Welsh children’s cancer charity.
His motivation for his first crack at the 26-mile distance is to boost the £30,000-worth of funds that have already been raised for the charity by Welsh trainer Christian Williams and his family.
Alan Johns training in the wild Welsh weather.
Williams’ six-year-old daughter Betsy was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia earlier this year.
“I was sitting on my sofa, eating ice cream, watching a Netflix documentary about some very adventurous mountain climbers, when I suddenly felt inspired to do something,” says Johns, who will be on board Classic Lord in the 3.25 at Worcester on Friday before he hot foots it to Loch Ness.
“I’ve always done a fair bit of running as part of my training schedule, but I’ve never raced more than a half marathon before.
“Racing has really got behind Christian Williams and his family over the past few months and I wanted to do something to show my support.
“I’ve also been inspired by their own fund-raising efforts and so I thought it was time for others, like me, to step up.
“If you speak to Betsy’s mum, Charlotte, for just five minutes then it is hard not to feel motivated to get involved with the charity and try to help.”
We count ourselves as very lucky to Sponsor Alan Johns – a quality jockey & a quality character.
It’s great to see him getting the exposure he deserves https://t.co/kxHUpyMhL5
— DragonBet (@DragonBetWales) April 16, 2023
Johns won’t be the only runner at Loch Ness more used to getting a ride than having to set the pace himself. Fellow jockey Conor Ring will also be running alongside Johns.
“Conor is a serious runner – he looks like he’s carved from marble – so he may go a bit faster than me,” adds Johns.
Johns says the pair of them decided to pick Loch Ness on a whim.
“I looked at a list of marathons and this one looked exciting and a bit different. We’ve all heard of Loch Ness from when we were kids – it looks absolutely beautiful and hopefully we might also catch sight of Nessie while we’re there!
“I’d love everyone who wants to support Betsy and the family to consider a donation.”
Details of Alan Johns’ marathon fundraising for LATCH, can be found here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/alan-johns-1694333336339
Pick your jockey https://t.co/25mxNYJ6XJ
— Alan Johns (@alanjohnsy) September 22, 2023