Stewart Milne goes the extra mile for Maggie's Centres

Dan Wymer, process analyst for Stewart Milne Timber Systems, has clocked up more than 1,000km of running in aid of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, Stewart Milne Group’s chosen charity.

Initially Mr Wymer set out to run 800km within the year and to raise £1 for every kilometre covered. Four weeks from the finale, he had broken through the 1,000km mark, and his final distance was 1,100km.

Over the past 10 years Mr Wymer has taken part in the Great North Run and various 10k races but has never taken on such a prolonged bout of running.

“I planned to run 800km, which is the distance between the Maggie’s Centre in Oxford where I am based and the Maggie’s Centre in Aberdeen where the Stewart Milne Group headquarters is based. I needed something to push me to exercise more and thought this would be the perfect motivation – and I’d be raising money for an incredibly worthy cause in the process. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009; thankfully she found the cancer early and her body responded well to treatment, but fund-raising for those affected by cancer is a cause very close to my heart,” he said.

“For the past year I’ve been running three or four times a week to cover my mileage. Most of my running has been on the roads around Witney, but I kept up my running while on holiday in Spain and I even ran 30km in New York while on holiday with my wife celebrating our first wedding anniversary!”

Mr Wymer kicked off the challenge with the Carterton 10k in March last year, and celebrated his big finish - and the completion of 1,101km - at the 2012 Carterton 10k on March 25.

He has raised more than £1,700 – more than double the original £800 target - with the Stewart Milne Group matching every penny raised, and hopes to reach £2,000.