The Aldi worker is running 150 miles to raise money for a dementia charity after taking up running during Covid
JACOB Lambert is running five ultramarathons in five days to raise money for Dementia UK in memory of his late grandfather.
An ultramarathon is anything over the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Mr Lambert, 30, has set himself the challenge of running over 30 miles each day for five days.
Mr Lambert, from St Mellons, is raising money in memory of his late grandfather, Raymond, who passed away from dementia in December 2022.
“That’s my inspiration behind actually doing this,” said Mr Lambert. He wants to raise as much as he can for Dementia UK.
Mr Lambert’s challenge starts on May 1 in Llandudno, Conwy, and ends in Pentyrch on May 5. His grandfather lived in the village with his grandmother, who still lives there.
He spends a lot of time in Pentyrch visiting his grandmother and often goes for runs on the hilly terrain that surrounds the village.
Currently, Mr Lambert is focusing his training on two or three long runs (up to 30 miles) and three gym sessions per week.
He said his work at Aldi has helped in his preparation: “I am on my feet for eight to nine hours for work. So, I get 10,000 steps in a day doing that as well.”
Mr Lambert’s girlfriend, who is an NHS nurse, will be supporting him on his run in his father’s campervan. The van has a microwave which they will use to prepare enough food to fuel him.
Eating enough calories will be a challenge: “My plan fuelling-wise is to cook up as much as I can beforehand: plenty of pastas and protein shakes and everything and keep that all stored in the van.
“Every morning is just going to be protein shakes, porridge, bananas.
“I will have a Camelbak on me each day and I will fill that with rice cakes and chocolate bars and sweets. It does not sound the most healthy, but it’s just all [about] energy expenditure.
“Luckily I’ve got some friends joining me on one or two days – they’re either cycling or running – so I can bombard their bikes full of junk food as well, just to keep me going through the process.”
Mr Lambert is grateful for the community of friends around him. Several friends are joining him on the last day of the run between Ebbw Vale and Pentyrch – something he is excited about.
“I am not looking forward to any of it except the last day,” joked Mr Lambert.
On Sunday, May 6, Mr Lambert will finish his challenge at Pentyrch Rugby Club where there will be a reception that his mother and grandmother are organising: “80-90 people will be there – They have invited everyone they can.
“My only request is actually as long as I finish, I can have a pint of Guinness and I have said to my nan ‘as long as you make me a lemon meringue pie’ so I can eat that at the end, I am a happy man.”
Jacob’s journey as a runner
Mr Lambert’s advice for people looking to get into running is not to take it seriously. He said: “I was just aiming to get out the door.”
Mr Lambert said the first Covid-19 lockdown was a turning point for him: “Covid helped me out a lot.”
He took up running during that lockdown. At that time, he was 15 stone and running became a way to lose weight.
He soon found that he really enjoyed running and it became a great way to stay healthy.
“It was my excuse to actually be outside to be able to go for runs,” he said.
This year’s challenge is not his first multi-day ultra-running challenge: “In May of 2021, I actually ran from Pembroke back to Cardiff which was four marathons in four days.”
For that particular run he raised £2,500 for Mind which is a mental health charity.
He said mental health was something that needed to be discussed more to remove the stigma around the subject.
He said that four marathons in four days was a challenge but that five ultramarathons in five days “is going to be tougher”.
For this year’s run, he said he would change the way he approached the challenge, saying: “I was finishing each day and having a couple of beers.
“I think I just [want to] try and be a bit more strategically clever with my food intake and calorie intake after each day. So, I’m going to save myself for Guinness after the last run.”
