Weston dad runs 46 half marathons in 46 weeks in memory of son

  • Watch Tom Young join Alex and Seb in the studio to discuss his challenge.

A man from Weston is running 46 half marathons in memory of his son. 

Tom Young’s son Jaxon passed away on 14 May 2023 after 46 days on the neonatal intensive care unit at St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol. 

During their time in hospital, Tom said he would chat to Jaxon about running with him dressed as Superman. 

Speaking before the challenge started, Tom said: “I told Jaxon that when we would leave the hospital, I would take him along with me in his pushchair during my next half marathon, dressed in my Superman suit. 

“Knowing that I was sadly not able to do this, my challenge is to run 46 half marathons in 46 weeks dressed in a Superman suit, in memory of the 46 days we had with Jaxon.”

On 7 July 2023 Tom did the first half marathon, and has been running nearly weekly since then. 

The final run takes place on the anniversary of Jaxon's death. Credit: Tom Young

Tom said: “I wanted a massive challenge to test myself and try and raise as much money as possible.”

When he first started, Tom said he got a few confused looks from people, but now he runs with a charity flag, people know what he’s doing and have followed his journey on social media. 

At the time of writing, £6,000 has been raised for Cots for Tots - the charity that worked alongside hospital staff to care for Jaxon in his 46 days of life. 

Kate Jones, from Cots for Tots, said: “Tom’s fundraising will be helping hundreds of babies and families right across the South West.

“Channelling going through such a difficult time by doing something so kind and amazing to help people through his fundraising is just really inspiring and he’s pretty amazing.”

Tom said: “[The challenge has] helped massively. Before I go out I’ll have a think about him. Some days when I have a wobble where something really simple can set me off, so I try and channel that grief into my runs, I can use that as a booster.”

The final run takes place on 14 May - on the first anniversary of Jaxon’s death. 

Tom said: “I’m probably going to feel very emotional, but I think I’ll have so much adrenaline going through me it will help massively, as a distraction.”