Sparks fly for Marathon man Toms

Having tried three times to run in the London Marathon by entering the ballot for places, PGA Professional Dominic Toms is finally going to be at the great national event on April 26th.

It’s all thanks to pioneering children’s medical research charity Sparks, who Toms is looking to raise £5,000 and more for.

The senior teaching Professional at Sandown Park Golf Centre, Toms says: “Sparks like the other charities have places reserved for them on the basis that the runner is going to raise a minimum of £2,000, and so I applied for one of the 80 spots on the basis of raising £5,000. Sparks gave me a spot, I’ve already raised £4,000 and now I’m looking for a bit more support from my peers in The PGA and elsewhere.”

Toms has a webpage for all those who want to make a donation at justgiving.com/Dominic-Toms which will remain open for six weeks after the London Marathon.

Toms explains how the charity made things work out for his goal of running in the London Marathon. “I’d twice tried to get in via the ballot,” he says, “but with over 500,000 people applying for 25,000 places in the London Marathon, the odds are stacked against you! I was talking to one of my clients about it, and as he knew someone at Sparks he suggested I applied to them.”

Toms has been running to keep fit for many years, but with the prospect of the London Marathon now a reality, he’s been in training for the past 14 weeks, notching up some 30 to 40 miles a week.

“I’m aiming to break the four hour barrier, the goal of many debut marathon runners,” says Toms, “and my training’s been geared to achieving this goal. But raising that £5,000 is my main objective, and so I hope that this will spread the word and raise a bit more for my cause.”