Matthew died whilst running the Humber Half Marathon due to a severe reaction to the extreme heat on the day. He was less than 1km from the finish. On the day a runner called Dave Johnson was only yards behind Matt and was the first person to help, before running ahead for medical assistance. Dave talked with Matthew’s brother Tim the following week and offered to run his next Half Marathon in Bristol in aid of Matt’s chosen charity. They quickly established that this happened to fall on Matt’s birthday!
It was soon decided that the first official fund-raising event for the Foundation will be the Bristol Half Marathon on September 11th 2011 led by Dave Johnson and Alan Platt (MD, JGS). Monies raised will be allocated directly to the Foundation’s first project which aims to fund research and education concerning heat exhaustion in athletes.
If you or anyone you know has been training enough to complete a Half Marathon and would like to take part then please get in touch and we’ll send you out the necessary sponsorship forms or see the Fund Raising page.
A huge factor that contributed to Matt’s death was the unexpected heatwave on June 26th. Out of respect it has been decided the team will arrive at the start line but not run if the temperature on the day exceeds 25 degrees with clear skies.