Only a fool does the same thing repeatedly and expects a different result. So having suffered pain and misery in the London Marathon in 2010 Andrew Clark from Bermondsey said ‘never again.’ This Sunday sees him running the Loch Ness Marathon – and this time there are hills!

Its Nessie – no apparently its Andrew after a training session

‘I have a couple of very good reasons for running,’ he argues. His friends Helen and Martin Marshall had premature twins earlier in the year. Peter and James were less than 2 pounds each when born and have needed a lot of help and support as they have grown. One charity that has provided this help is Pop’n’Grow and this is who Andrew is running for Sunday.

Peter and James

A small charity, just a year old, Pop’n’grow supply specially designed clothing to Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special Care Baby Units. This clothing comes with a lot of support and understanding, designed initially when Paula Smith was sitting watching her daughter in NICU and realised how scary it all looked.

‘Any money that people donate will make a real difference to the charity and the families it supports’ explains Andrew. ‘Each baby grow costs £4.50, but with 209 NICU units around the country they are looking to raise in excess of £21000 a year to make sure they are all supplied.’ To find more information about Pop’n’Grow go to www.popngrow.co.uk or look for them on Facebook. If you can sponsor Andrew, please do contact him on quasi1981@hotmail.com

Article and photos from Andrew Clarke, captions from Webmaster