When local businessman Craig McKay sent in his entry for this weekend's London Marathon, he was confident of one thing – he'd never make it onto the entry list.
But, while his wife, Karen - a serious runner and has completed marathons in the past - didn't get a place, Craig sailed in at his first attempt.
"It will be my first – and last – marathon," says Craig, general manager and director of Dinnington-based hi-tech engineering company Evenort.
"The training regime is arduous and long. You have to start training in December. I was mainly training in the dark with a torch and my dog for company.
"I applied on the basis that it would be nice to get fit, but, quite honestly, I never expected to get in."
Once the unexpected happened, however, Craig knuckled down, not just to get fit, but to raise money for the Master Cutler's Challenge, which is supporting St Luke's and Rotherham Hospices.
Three of the company's leading suppliers – exotic metals specialist Bohler South Yorkshire-based IT systems group, Sanderson and health care insurance business Westfield Health – are each contributing £1,000 to get their names on commemorative running shirts, donated by Worksop-based Whitaker Signs, which also gave Evenort the signs.
Sanderson, meanwhile, supplied Evenort's manufacturing software which handles everything from stock holding and traceability of the high integrity products it makes to wages and a web based portal that allows customers to check orders and accounts while Sheffield-based Westfield provides the company's health insurance.
READ MOREMain news indexLatest sport.The full article contains 263 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
