A PARISH priest and his wife will be among those running in the Great South Run this year.

The Rev Alex Hughes and Sarah outside St Peter's Church

The Rev Alex Hughes, priest-in-charge of St Peter’s and St Luke’s Churches in Somerstown, and his wife Sarah will both be taking part in the 10-mile run through Portsmouth’s streets for the first time.

Alex will be raising money for the Tom Prince Cancer Trust, named after the teenage Pompey fan who died of cancer in 2004. Tom’s uncle, Peter Prince, is part of Alex’s congregation at St Peter’s Church.

And Sarah will be raising money to help research into meningitis after a member of the church’s coffee club died. Her sponsorship money will go to the Meningitis Trust.
 The couple’s two sons Thomas, 6, and Joseph, 3, will also be taking part in the 1.5km Mini-Run the previous day.
 
“Although I’d never taken part before, I was inspired to support the Tom Prince Trust and thought this would be a good way to do it,” said Alex. “Peter has talked to me about what the charity does and it’s great that they do so much fundraising to help those with teenage bone cancer.
 
“It’s great that Sarah’s involved too, as we can compare notes on our training schedule.”
 
Alex isn’t the only clergy person who will be taking part. Others include the Very Rev David Brindley, dean of Portsmouth Cathedral; Canon David Isaac, residentiary canon at the cathedral; and the Ven Gavin Collins, Archdeacon of the Meon.

The pair have been training together, running through the streets of Portsmouth and visiting the gym together ahead of the big day on October 28.