The brewery’s Pub Company chief operating officer Richard Lewis and outgoing Brewing & Brands managing director Clive Chesser are running the 26-mile course in aid of Greene King’s corporate charity partner, Macmillan Cancer Support.
Chesser, who is based at Abbot House in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, ran the London Marathon last year. He said: “I’m also hoping to break the four-hour barrier as well as smashing my fundraising target.”
Training hard
Lewis, who has worked for Greene King for seven years, said: “I have been training hard in the lead-up to the marathon but know it’ll be a tough slog on the day.
“I am so proud of our pubs and our people who have raised more than £3.8m for Macmillan, and I am happy to be able to do my bit too.”
A royal send-off
The pair will join more than 40,000 other runners including a line-up of the world’s best elite runners and para athletes at the marathon, which was first run in 1981.
This year’s race will be started by her majesty Queen Elizabeth from Windsor Castle. The start location marks the 110th anniversary of the 1908 Olympic Games marathon, the first marathon to be held over the classic 26.2-mile distance, which was also started at Windsor Castle by the then Princess Mary, grandmother to Queen Elizabeth.
Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge holds the men’s record for the fastest London marathon, running it in 2.03.05 hours in 2016. Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe holds the women’s record of 2.15.25 hours, run in 2003.
Macmillan Cancer Support provides practical, emotional and personal support to people affected by cancer. It has been Greene King’s corporate charity partner since 2012.