Show jumper Adam Botham has raised more than £3,000 in memory of his friend, mentor and former boss Tim Stockdale by tackling a half-marathon.
Adam had not even run a mile before starting training for the 13-mile challenge, which he completed in an impressive one hour and 49 minutes.
He is donating the funds to the Tim Stockdale Foundation, which supports young athletes, and was set up in memory of Tim following his death from stomach cancer aged 54, in 2018.
Adam lost two stone training for the event and could often be found on the treadmill at midnight trying to fit in the miles around his busy yard and competition schedule.
The 39-year-old rider has had a strong season this year, chalking up a number of high-profile successes with Barbara Hester’s seven-year-old stallion Ebanking.
He told H&H the horse was among the factors that influenced him to take on the fundraiser.
“Ebanking started it all. Having a horse like him, I couldn’t be overweight and I knew I needed to get some weight off.
“Tim struggled with weight all his life and I struggle with it too — going up against the likes of Ben Maher and Scott Brash, who are featherweights, he was always on a diet.
“I just thought ‘actually, let’s aim at something’.”
Adam said that he thought fundraising for the foundation had also “gone a bit quiet” following the pandemic and he wanted to help boost its profile.
“When Tim first died there was a lot of fundraising for his foundation but I wasn’t quite ready to get involved with it yet, it was still a bit too raw,” said Adam, who worked for Tim for around three years.
“We remained close after I finished working for him and we always had horses together — when I left he sent three with me, it was a friendship which carried on for many years.”
Kim Tomkin helped Adam train for the run, devising a programme where he would run at least four days a week, for between 40min and 90min.
“I preferred to run on a treadmill in my little workshop. I’m not the slimmest, fittest guy but I liked to get stuck in there and work hard with the door closed and my headphones in,” he said.
Adam said he “might do another half” for a different charity but not in the immediate future.
“I’m having trouble walking to the house right now!” he added.
Donations in support of Adam’s run can still be made at his GoFundMe page.
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