Sandbach Trainer Runs 50 Marathons in His 50th Year for Charity

A personal trainer who turns 50 in May has set himself the target of running 50 marathons in 2026. Mark Barrett wants to raise £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation after his wife Hayley, 42, underwent surgery following the discovery of a hole in her heart, likely there since birth. She has since recovered. The trainer from Sandbach, Cheshire, said he wanted to both celebrate her strength and support the charity, the research of which had helped make the surgery possible. Barrett began his runs on New Year's Day. He is planning to do a mix of local marathons, major events and self-organised ones. His wife was diagnosed with "quite a large" hole in the upper chambers of her heart at the age of 39, after she began getting out of breath. Previously, she had always thought she had asthma. "It was a massive shock for Hayley, a huge thing to get her head around and cope with and obviously go through surgery, but she's a very strong woman." Barrett said his wife was doing really well post surgery, and recently joined him on a marathon, running 10k, which was "an incredible amount, bearing in mind what she went through". He said when he turned 40, he did 12 marathons in 12 months, and really wanted a big challenge heading towards 50 "just to prove that old boys can still do it", adding that he found them weirdly enjoyable.