VIDEO: Farthinghoe dad running AND skating Berlin Marathon for cancer charity

Steve Sneath has been busy learning how to skate for the past few weeks in anticipation for the challenge this weekend, picking up plenty of cuts and bruises along the way.

The 46-year-old father-of-two from Farthinghoe said he is feeling a mixture of excitement and dread as he thinks the running part will be fine, but he is not so confident with the skating element.

“A few friends have done a skating marathon before and I thought it was interesting and some other friends said they would do the Berlin Marathon and I thought that sounds looney enough,” he said.

Steve said his daughters have had great enjoyment in watching him regularly fall over without teaching him much about rollerskating.

Having been in the army for eight year, the now-IT consultant said he is not worried about being fit enough to complete the double marathons – the prospect of having to stop on skate is of greater concern.

“I’m alright at going, and corners are good if they are not too tight. But there’s not many places to train around Farthinghoe as there are too many hills and you need it to be flat,” he said.

“I’ve not worked out how to stop yet so that could be interesting, but I’ve got a few more days to practice so hopefully I’ll be okay.”

The reason Steve’s adventure is in aid of Cancer Research UK is he survived Hodgkin’s lymphoma over 15 years ago but he said many of his friends and people in Farthinghoe ‘have not been so lucky’.

“Our village, and everyone else, has been so affected by it and I’ve lost people to various forms of cancer,” he said.

“I’ve lost three friends of a very similar age to me to different cancers. When I had it, I thought it was a secret club, but it’s amazing how many people have had it.

“So hopefully my little bit to try to fix that will go a long way.”

To support Steve’s appeal, visit fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/steves-giving-page-167