CARDIGAN Rugby Club second row Rob Connolly will be running in aid of NSPCC when he tackles the London Marathon next month, but it was a desire to fight the flab that got the experienced rugby man out on the road in the first place.

The doting father, who has been a regular in the Cardigan strip for many years, has never tackled a full marathon before but has been training hard along the roads of Cardigan where he lives and this hard graft has worked wonders for both his fitness and his weight.

“My initial motivation was purely to lose weight as 10 years ago I weighed in at 26 stone 5 pounds and I was really unhappy with my size and decided things needed to change,” he said.

“I wanted to lose weight for health reasons mainly, but also to be a better rugby player and I am now down to 18 stone flat.”

Rob who works with BT is running as part of Team BT for NSPCC and as a group they are looking to raise a combined amount of around £50,000.

“First of all I want to finish it! And secondly I have got my eyes on sub 4:30. I am hoping I can achieve this as I will have my wife Sami, daughter Mari, my mum Mandy and brother Richard and his girlfriend Gemma waiting at the finish line,” he said.

“If anyone would like to make a donation or sponsor me please visit my Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/R-Connolly1.”

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