A SOLDIER plans to run a marathon while wearing full army kit in memory of a fallen comrade who was based in Chester.
Captain Stephen ‘Steve’ Healey, 29, of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan last May.
His friend and colleague Captain Andrew Fox will run the Brighton Marathon to raise money for Blind Veterans UK in Capt Healey’s memory.
Capt Fox plans to run the marathon in full army kit, which weighs 20 kilograms or 44 pounds, the weight of a small child. He hopes to run the course in less than four hours and 30 minutes.
The men met when they were both Platoon Commanders together in B Company of the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh.
They were posted to Cyprus and Chester together and became good friends.
“Steve was one of those all round good blokes,” said Capt Fox, who will be running alongside Thea Davies, who was Capt Healey’s partner, for the April 14 marathon.
“All of the officers and soldiers who knew him loved him. He was one of those people you aspired to try and be like,” he said.
The Brighton Marathon is one of 20 marathons and half marathons Thea is running as part of her year-long challenge to raise funds for Blind Veterans UK.
She is running 415 miles as Capt Healey, who lived at the Dale Barracks on Liverpool Road, was the 415th British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.
Capt Fox and Thea are raising money for Blind Veterans UK, formerly St Dunstan’s, a charity which provides support, rehabilitation and training to blind veterans.