Run2Paris: Meet Richard Deighton

Run 2 Paris Charity SSAFA

Three brave SEA people are taking part in the Run2Paris from 25 to 28 May. Ben Smith (Team Captain), Catherine Brogan and Richard Deighton will be running together all the way to Paris from London on behalf of SEA and Cohort plc. They’ll be running half a marathon each day for four days and will also be joined by Ash Perolls and Marc Scammell from MASS. You can show some support by going to their page and donating! 

Richard’s running journey  

Eight years ago, Richard found his love for running after realising his lifestyle choices needed to change. So, with a nudge from former colleague Dereck Hacker, he made it a goal to start running in the Cohort Plc Leadership Development Programme.  

He started with a ‘Couch to 5k’-programme in June 2015, and three months later he impressively completed his first 10k. He’s now regularly running 30 to 40k per week and has never felt better, with his resting heartbeat being in the 40s! He also regularly runs a half marathon ‘for fun’ on Sundays. His next challenge is Run2Paris, which requires building up to run four marathons in four days without injuring himself.  

Why the Run2Paris? 

There are two big reasons for Richard to run, the first being the challenge, and the second being the amazing charities we’ll be supporting! Here’s what Richard said about it: “The Run2Paris challenge is going to be a tough event for the participants, but I feel that it's also an amazing opportunity. To complete it will require commitment, determination and careful planning, and will be a memory that remains for the rest of my life. SSAFA is one of the two charity partners and closely aligns with a lot of the folk I work with at SEA, due to the nature of the work we do. This feels like a wonderful chance to make a real financial difference to SSAFA. 

How can you help? 

As Richard mentioned, it’s for a good cause! We’re fundraising for our corporate charity SSAFA and Parkinson's UK. The Cohort Plc runners have set a fundraising target of £10,000, please show our runners some support by going to their page and donating.