Airbus Engineer to complete five marathons in five days for Barnardo’s

An engineer working at Airbus in Broughton, will be climbing almost as high as the aircraft he works on when he embarks on five marathons in five days in November in aid of Barnardo’s. 

LONG RUNWAY: Shaun O’Dwyer will be climbing as high as the Airbus Beluga Super Transport when he does five marathons over Rivington Pike in November

As if the 26 miles, back to back, for five days weren’t enough, Shaun O’Dwyer, from Bolton, will be running 40 laps each day on Rivington Pike, climbing a total of 30,000ft – the height of Mount Everest and the normal cruising altitude of the Airbus Beluga Super Transporter.

The 36 year-old father of one is part of a team building the wings for some of the world’s leading aircraft types, but despite the pressures of work he still finds time to put in to training for his punishing 131-mile run over rough stony trails in what could be freezing conditions.

“I’ve always been a cyclist, but never really did any competitive running. When I became a dad, I started jogging for general fitness and would turn up for park runs on a Saturday morning,” Shaun said.

“I did one three-mile race, won it and really enjoyed it, so it gave me an interest in running a marathon. I found a training programme that I was able to fit in with work and home life, and aimed for an optimistic sub-three hour marathon.

“I ran my first race in February this year, and have just kept doing them. But I also wanted to move onto the next challenge – Barnardo’s is a charity I have always admired and I thought I would do this to raise funds for them.”

Shaun will join around 20 other athletes for the event which starts on November 20^th. His wife Catherine has also been bitten by the running bug, joining her local club Bolton Harriers where she was soon competing with some of the best runners there.

“The training is taking up a lot of time and I’m running about 100 miles each week,” he added. “I’m hoping it’ll pay off and I’d like to raise at least £5,000 for Barnardo’s.”

Airbus in the UK supports staff who raise money for charity by contributing 10 per cent on the first £5,000 they raise.

Shaun’s Justgiving page can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/ShaunODwyer