SCOUT leader Dai Hazelden has been inspired by the work of the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team to resume his running career and toe the line at this Sunday’s Cardiff Half Marathon.

Dai Hazelden, who is 56 years old, has not run for 30 years since he gave up running half marathons after picking up several injuries in his mid-20s.

Dai used to run three or four half marathons every year to keep fit after he found he enjoyed running in his school days.

But when he was 27 he developed a joggers’ condition known as plantar fasciitis in both his feet, which just wouldn’t go away, so regrettably he gave up his favourite pastime.

But recently he was motivated to train for the Cardiff Half Marathon, which takes place on October 1, and now most Sunday mornings he can be seen running along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal towpath from Brecon canal basin to Bynich Lock and back.

Dai, who is a scout leader with Brecon Scouts, said: “I had to give up running 30 years ago due to injury, but I decided to take it up again earlier this year to help me get fit.

“To encourage me a friend challenged me to enter the Cardiff Half Marathon and complete it in under two hours. As a scout leader I’m very much aware of the tremendous work that Brecon Mountain Rescue Team do; every one of them is a volunteer, giving up his/her spare time for free for the benefit of others.

“I thought that if I’m going to run round Cardiff then I may as well put my time and effort to good use and raise much-needed funds for them, as each callout costs them approximately £400 and they rely solely on donations.”

Of his early running experiences, Dai said: “I started running when I was nine as running at school was compulsory, so I had no choice. Although I was hopeless to begin with I gradually improved over the years. I started to enjoy running, to the point that when I was about 21 I started running half marathons. I ran three or four half marathons each year.

Then when I was about 27 I developed plantar fasciitis, or jogger’s heel, in both feet which became severe enough to force me to give up running – even walking was painful. The problem persisted for some considerable time, but over the last few years, with the help of a chiropractor, I’ve been able to reduce the problem, to the point where earlier this year I felt good enough to start running again.”

Having got back into training, Dai soon found his fitness picked up, but even now he has found he is not averse to injuries. “A torn hamstring in July has set my training back by 10 weeks so my target time is going to be hard to reach, but however long it takes me, I’m sure BMRT will be grateful for all donations.”

If you would like to support Dai in his effort to raise funds for BMRT you can donate by visiting his JustGiving page (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/DaiHazelden) or you can donate directly to BMRT via http://breconmrt.co.uk/.