Duo take on charity marathon bid

Nikki White, 30, and Kevin Fulton, 33, both from Gretna, will tackle the equivalent of three-and-a-half marathons on June 10 when they set off from Celtic Park in Glasgow and run to Raydale Park in Gretna.
The pair will stop off at various points across the region on their route, including Lockerbie and Moffat, and hope that people turn out on the day to support them and donate cash.
And all of the money they raise is for the JMA Trust — established in memory of their late friend John Maurice Aitken.
Nikki said: “The idea came about when I was thinking of something to do to raise money for the trust.
“People do marathons quite often and they’re a colossal task in themselves, but we were wanting to do something that would stand-out and get people interested and create some sort of buzz.”
Both Nikki and Kevin are strong supporters of the trust, but admit they’re not the strongest runners.
Kevin said: “Speed isn’t our concern, it’s just whether our bodies will cope. And we don’t know because we’ll be at a stage not many people will have been at before by running 50 miles in a day.”
The planned route is along the old A74 which runs parallel with the motorway, with stop-off points not always easy to find.
Kevin said: “After Abington the only landmark we could find was a distribution building about ten miles on, and I can imagine that stretch will be the toughest part.”
He added: “And then from there we go to Moffat which is just over seven miles and we’ll spend the night there.”
JMA trustee Joanne Aitken has praised the effort.
She said: “What these guys are doing we are extremely grateful for because they’ll be taking the name of the JMA Trust to people who have never heard of us before.”
Thankful of all the support towards the ‘John-a-thon’, Joanne added: “We’ve had amazing support from Steven Ceates at the Shed in Annan and Lesley-Anne Johnstone from LA Active Annan, as well as everyone who has donated and helped the guys already raise 10% of their target in the first two days.”
To donate visit www.justgiving.com/Nikki-White8 or text NWKF85 £5 to 70070 and to keep up to speed with the guys, check out their Facebook page ‘John-a-thon’.