1 Jun 2023
Sergejs Markuls is aiming to run 100 miles in 24 hours to help raise vital funds for the veterinary charity.
Allister Webb
Job Title
A Northumberland-based vet is gearing up for a gruelling ultramarathon fund-raising challenge to raise vital funds for Vetlife.
Sergejs Markuls, who is known as CJ, is currently training for the Endure24 Leeds trail running event, in which he is aiming to run 100 miles in just 24 hours.
Dr Markuls, an advanced practitioner in small animal surgery at Moorview Referrals in Cramlington, only took up the discipline last summer and completed his first ultramarathon – a term for any distance beyond the traditional marathon – earlier this year.
And he said the sport had helped him to overcome his own challenges, including the impact of lockdown and a close family bereavement.
He said: “I always try to motivate and push myself a bit more to see what my body is capable of – not only body, but also mind.
It’s not only a physical effort but a mental effort. You have to run through the night, brace mentally and you find the people who support you along the way.”
The Endure24 event takes place on an 8km looped course in Leeds’ Bramham Park over the weekend of 24 and 25 June.
Dr Markuls, who has set up an online donation page and is planning to livestream parts of the run via his Instagram page, @zmijgorinich, has been running several times a week in preparation for the event and only ran his first ultramarathon in January.
The Latvian-born vet is no stranger to fund-raising activities, having previously completed a single-day coast-to-coast cycling challenge in aid of PDSA.
His latest charity effort has been inspired both by the vital work of Vetlife and the experiences of people close to him.
He said: “Vetlife is really good at helping the vets, vet nurses and veterinary staff throughout their worklife.
“I do have a couple of friends who went through really dark times and if it wasn’t for friends around them they might have struggled to get through that.
“We struggle to share and talk about it still, despite how many people are affected by it.”
To support Dr Markuls, visit his JustGiving page.
