MEDIA: 12 Marathon in 12 Months for Police Legacy Charity

Ben has been a police officer for over 25 years and has endured the tragic loss of colleagues and the impact it has on their family, friends, and the wider community.

The WA Police Legacy provides support to over 450 widows, widowers and children of police officers that have lost their lives.

To show his support and appreciation to the charity, Ben has decided to run 12 half-marathons (21.1km) in 12 months all throughout the year. That’s 253.2km by the end of the year.

Aged 47, Ben started his first half-marathon in the January heat in Perth and has since been doing the running challenge for the following months. He is now halfway through his challenge and is feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

“Before this challenge, I’ve done a few half-marathons before which were incredibly hard, and I could hardly walk afterwards. This is what spurred me on! Doing one big run a month is a challenge but something I’m committed to.”

“At my age, I’m feeling as fit as ever and have improved my time after each event. After each race, I’m already looking forward to the next one so it’s a bit addictive.”

Ben’s training involves running 3-4 times a week and following a training program that incorporates interval and conditioning training.

“I’m so glad that everyone has been really supportive and that donations have been slowly coming in. My wife has been tremendously supportive because training does take up a lot of time, including disrupting Saturday morning sleep-ins.”

Ben says that he feels proud to be dedicating this challenge to a charity that supports families that have lost loved ones who dedicated their lives to keeping the community safe.