He'll be fine if he has a fall!

Reporter: Jacob Metcalf
Date published: 14 February 2017


MR BUMP will show no fear of any scrapes or falls when he tackles the London Marathon for Children with Cancer UK.

James Wright (46), of Royton, will tackle the 26-mile course on April 23 dressed as the clumsy, yet loveable, Mr Men character as he looks to raise funds for children suffering from cancer.

He was one of two people to be selected out of a team of 1,400 to wear the official Mr Bump and Little Miss Sunshine costumes for Children with Cancer UK during the marathon.

Bucket

As part of his preparation, James, dressed as Mr Bump, will be taking part in the Oldham Parkrun on Saturday before he meanders back home via the town centre with collection bucket in hand.

James, who is often seen running with his wife Della, who has also run for the charity in the past, has run with both Royton Road Runners and Oldham and Royton Harriers over the past two years and previously ran the Heaton Park Parkrun as Mr Bump.

After Oldham he plans to do the Stretford Parkrun on March 4.

He said: "Last time we went to Heaton Park Parkrun and had a good laugh getting me around the course and I hope to try to replicate that at Oldham Parkrun.

"I am a regular runner who just wants to enjoy running. Wearing Mr Bump is putting the fun back into running, and so far making plenty of people smile and also sharing the charity name.

"There are only two official costumes at London this year, a Little Miss Sunshine and Mr Bump, so I feel highly honoured to be asked to wear him for this event, out of at least 1,400 in our team."

James added: "It would be great to get more people over to the Parkrun events and hopefully seeing me suffer might help make Oldham busier than usual, which is OK as long as they bring some money with them.

Club

"In the last two years I have been running with both Royton Road Runners and Oldham and Royton Harriers, locally there is a big running community, but you don't have to be in a club to run."

Anyone wishing to donate can send text code CWCJ53 to 70070 adding 1/2/3/5/10. Add gift aid when getting a confirmation text or visiting virginmoneygiving.com/James70.

Additionally any businesses who would like to offer corporate sponsorship are welcome to get in touch.