A Fife man who lost his baby grandson at just two months old is again taking on the Great Scottish Run for charity.
Trevor Black, 65, will be running 10k on September 30 for the Love Oliver charity set up in memory of his grandson Oliver Gill who died on Christmas Day 2010.
Oliver had been diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer, a malignant rhabdoid tumour, when he was just days old.
His parents, Trevor’s daughter Jennifer and husband Andy, set up Love Oliver to provide support to children with cancer and their families and fund research.
It provided Trevor with the inspiration to take up running in his sixth decade.
“I took it up to raise funds for my daughter’s charity which she set up in memory of my first grandson who passed away with cancer when he was only two months old,” he said.
“That is the only charity I run for and that’s why I do it. If it wasn’t for that I don’t think I would be doing this just now. It’s not something that has ever occurred to me to do at this stage in life.”
To date, Love Oliver has raised more than £520,000.
Trevor said: “To be able to do that sort of thing at this stage in my life is a great physical benefit and it’s great to be able to support the charity as my daughter gave up her teaching job to run it.”
It will be the third time Trevor has run the Great Scottish Run, and this time he will be taking part in the Community Challenge, launched by race sponsors Bank of Scotland to get Scotland active.
The campaign aims to recruit one runner from each of the 32 local authorities in Scotland to take on a 10 weeks to 10k running challenge, with Trevor representing Fife on the day of the race.
Trevor added: “The main challenge is to keep injury-free and staying motivated as a lot of the time you don’t feel like going out and training.
“It’s especially difficult in the winter time, but I just think about why I’m doing it and Oliver is always in my mind. If I didn’t have that motivation, then I wouldn’t be doing it.
“That’s what keeps me going as at the end of the day you’re trying to create more awareness in the public and just to help other children who find themselves with this horrible disease.”
Bank of Scotland is celebrating its 10th year as partner of the Great Scottish Run and is supporting the 10 weeks to 10k challenge for the second year. For more information, visit
greatscottishrun.com/community-challenge
.
