The China Mail - Welsh football icon Ramsey takes on marathon challenge for charity

The 35-year-old former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder will be running to raise funds for It's Never You, a charity founded by his friends, Ceri and Frances Menai-Davis.

Their son, Hugh, died aged just six from a rare cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma, on September 18, 2021.

Ramsey, who prior to announcing he was running in the marathon had already raised £25,000 ($34,000) in previous years according to Ceri, said his son used to play with Hugh.

"As a charity, it's really close to my heart," Ramsey told BBC Wales.

"I know Ceri and Fran and their family. I knew Hugh very well. My eldest boy, Sonny, is a similar age and they used to play with each other.

"I can't imagine what they went through and what they are going through, but they've been an absolute inspiration to me, my family and many others."

Ramsey, capped 86 times and a key member of the Wales side that reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals though he was suspended for the last four defeat by eventual champions Portugal, will run alongside Ceri.

"They've (Ceri and Frances) done an unbelievable job in what they've done so far, and I know they're only just getting started," said Ramsey.

"They've accomplished so much, and to see their drive and passion to try and make a difference in Hugh's memory is very inspiring.

"Now I'm retired, it frees me up a little bit more to be able to do these things."

- 'Grief weighs' -

Ramsey, who won the FA Cup three times with Arsenal, said training for a marathon had been a very different challenge.

"I'm excited," he said.

"Training's been difficult, when the rain's coming down and it's wet and windy, and it can be quite a lonely place sometimes.

"But actually, I've enjoyed it in a weird way, being in the trenches a little bit."

Hugh will be there or at least his shoes wll be round Ceri's shoulders -- the pair he wore when he was admitted to hospital but as Ceri said "sadly never came out".

Ceri will also have the names of 500 seriously ill children inscribed on his back.

"He was the most amazing, brave, courageous young boy," said Ceri.

"The reason I do marathons is, just before Hugh died, I stupidly put myself in for a marathon in 2021.

"I never thought I'd get in but I got in, started training for it and Hugh never got to see me run that marathon because I did it two weeks after he died, and we buried him the next day with my medal."

It is not the first marathon that Ceri has run with the shoes round his shoulders.

"I did Paris with his shoes," said Ceri.

"He never got to see Paris so I showed him the Eiffel Tower and we had a chat all the way round.

"In London, he'll be there with me on my shoulders and we'll cross the finish line together."

The shoes will be considerably lighter than what he carried last year.

"I carried a 22-kilo rucksack, which was the weight Hugh was when he passed away," said Ceri. "That was to display what grief weighs on you as a parent."

D.Peng--ThChM