Harbury 19-year-old hoping to inspire others with half marathon challenge

A 19-year-old from Harbury is hoping to inspire others by taking on a half marathon.

Adam Draper, who is taking on the challenge this weekend, has hemiplegia - a condition which affects one side of the body making it weaker than the other side.

Adam was due to take on the Coventry Half Marathon but because it has been postponed, he will be completing his challenge around Draycote Water on Sunday (November 1).

He will be joined by his uncle, Jamie Constable, who has also been his personal trainer and Kirsty Keating - one of Jamie's clients.

Adam said: "I have hemiplegia, which affects the right hand side of my body, which means it can be hard to do everyday tasks such as getting dressed and tying shoe laces compared to other people.

"I thought this was a great way to raise money for charity and to prove to people that I can do things beyond what is expected of me.

"I want to inspire other young people who live with this condition and show them that we can do the same things as able bodied people.

"I also want to show them that we can push ourselves to do things we never thought would be possible."

The half marathon will be the furthest that Adam has run.

He said : "The furthest I have run was during training, which was about 10 miles.

"I am feeling good about the half marathon and I have been training for the past two months to try and increase my distance so hopefully it should go well."

Adam got the idea of a half marathon challenge from Jamie, who is from Long Itchington and runs Just Change personal training.

Jamie said: "It started with Adam saying he wanted to get a bit fitter and then I said to him 'why don't we make it a challenge?'

"So we decided on the Coventry Half Marathon and then we then decided whatever the circumstances we would find a route and do a half marathon - so we decided to go to Draycote Water.

"He then decided to do it for charity and he managed to raise £1,600 in just 24 hours, which was amazing.

"Adam has put so much effort into training - he is definitely going to complete it."

Adam is raising money for Hemi Chat, which is a charity that supports children and young adults who have hemiplegia.

Initially Adam set himself a target of raising £1,000 but as of Friday (October 30) he has raised more than £2,300.

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adam-draper4