#REASONSFORRUNNING – “I’ll carry a toy baby at the Plymouth Half Marathon in honour of my son Kaleb, to symbolise the grief we all carry”

Thank you to Luke who is sharing his story with us and why he is taking part in the Plymouth Half Marathon at Britain’s Ocean City Running Festival on Sunday 11th May 2025.

 

“Plymouth Half Marathon was my first ever Half Marathon & I ran it to raise money for my little boy Kaleb, who had a life limited condition… sadly Kaleb died only 7 weeks after the Half Marathon, he was 18 months old.

Since his death I’ve continued to run, I’ve run many Half Marathons & I’ve run 10 Marathons (to date) all over the UK & Europe in his name, raising awareness for Children’s Hospice South West.

 

With Plymouth being the 10 year anniversary of the start of running journey, my plan is to carry a toy baby in a sling weighted to the birth weight of Kaleb (4lb 9oz) around the course for a visual presentation of the weight of grief and to symbolise ‘we all carry something with us’.

 

The Plymouth Half marathon is special to me. The toy baby I plan to use is actually one of my little girl, Betsy’s toy, she is now 4 years old & understands about her brother & for me to link both my children together is very important.

 

My long term plan is to run a full Marathon in 2026 or 2027 with the toy baby in the sling but I felt it was so powerful to start this new awareness where it all started back on Plymouth Hoe.

 

I have always said ‘A son’s first hero is always his Dad but in this case, a Dad’s hero was his son’.”

 

Luke will be carrying a toy baby with him as he takes on the Plymouth Half Marathon Challenge, if you see him along the route, please give him your support.

 

You can also join him and thousands of others with their own reasons for running by entering online at www.runplymouth.co.uk