Simon Franks is not one of Britain's top male distance runners at the moment. Not even close. Still, at the tender age of 49 he's still willing to give it a go and to this end will be running his 4th London Marathon in 2012.

Simon has been running on and off since he was inspired by the first London Marathon in 1981. Running mostly for keeping fit, Simon has dabbled with races throughout his 'career' peaking in his 10k performance at the Maidstone 10k in 1988 with a pb of 45.30. Running has been a (fairly) constant factor since this time and, coupled with a semi mid life crisis in 2005, Simon decided that a change of career from civil engineer to running shop owner was the thing to do.

So in February of 2006 the dream became reality and Simon now owns the Swansea franchise of Up & Running (it was this or buying a Harley Davidson, an allotment or a second garden shed).

Simon is a Swansea Harrier and occasionally turns up at the club on curry nights.
Follow Simon's "Road to London 2012" here. It's sure to be an emotional and physical rollercoaster.Simon has a ballot place in the London marathon but will be raising money for WaterAid anyway.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SimonFranks
http://www.wateraid.org/uk/default.asp

Simon's Stats

• Club: Swansea Harriers
• University: University of Greenwich (B.Eng. – Civil Engineering)
• Previous Career: Chartered Civil Engineer.
• Event: 100m to Marathon.
• Coach: Self
• Target For 2011-2012: Break 4 hours for the London Marathon to join the "Sub 4" category.