Carl and Helen Howarth raise over £800 for Prostate Cancer UK by completing the Manchester Marathon

Helen and Carl Howarth

Local baker Carl Howarth and his daughter Helen have raised just over £800 for Prostate Cancer UK after they took part in the Manchester Marathon on Sunday (19 April).

Carl, who owns Cousins Bakery on Whitworth Road, completed the marathon in three hours and 30 minutes.

His daughter Helen completed the run in four hours and 40 minutes.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, he said: “It was fantastic. I am really pleased with my time and it was pretty painless so all in all, it went really well.”

Carl took up running around four years ago after living with type 2 diabetes as well as battling with his weight, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He described himself then as “really overweight and taking up to ten tablets a day”.

“I decided to do something about it and at first started walking and then gradually started running. I then completed my first 10k run about two years ago and did a half marathon about six months ago,” said Carl.

Since he decided to change his lifestyle, Carl has lost over five stone and no longer has to take medication.

Carl and Helen decided to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK as they thought it would be a good cause to raise funds for.

Carl added: “We are really pleased with what we raised and a lot of it was down to the customers, friends and family. We thought the cause would be a good one to raise money for and that was the main reason we did it for them.”

After completing his first full marathon last week, Carl isn’t running into any more just yet.

“I haven’t decided on if I am doing anything like this again just yet. I think I got a little injury from the race so will probably have a week off from running and then go from there,” he said.