I am Jan-Nicolas and I am the German in the group. In 1999, I studied in Glasgow for 9 months and that was when Barry and I first met – in a “It’s A Scream” pub down Byres Road.

Even though we only meet every year or so and phone / chat sporadically in between, I count Barry as one of my best friends. And so it was a no-brainer to support his run and his fund-raising.

I started running after getting doored in 2008. I broke my hip, went through surgery and basically could not walk for 3 months. When I finally returned my crutches, I stated that I would now run a marathon – which I obviously couldn’t.

A friend of mine, originally from Paris, thought this was a good idea and so did his first marathon that year. I felt inspired and the following year, in Hamburg I ran my first ever marathon! In 2011, we went to his home town of Paris and completed the Paris Marathon. In 2012, I did the Rome Marathon and the “Run between the Seas” (“Lauf zwischen den Meeren“) – a relay from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.

In 2013, my fourth marathon will be Sainte-Saëns to Dieppe and I am very much looking forward to it!