MEMBERS OF a local running club joined together last week to celebrate the life of a fellow runner.
Last week, a 57-year-old man from Shinfield Running Club passed away after suffering from a heart attack during a training run.
Tony Drake was taken to Royal Berkshire Hospital, but sadly passed away before he arrived.
On Wednesday, January 15, hordes of club members joined together to run in Tony’s memory, running 5.7km to mark his age when he died.
Between 70 and 80 members — all in club colours — joined in the event, running a route around Shinfield in his memory.
Club owner James Suarez organised the tribute run in Mr Drake’s memory. He said: “It was really moving. We had a massive turnout, which just shows the respect Tony had in the club. People wanted to pay their respects to Tony and commemorate his life.
“It was emotional at the start, we held a one minute’s silence in his memory, and then club member, James Butler delivered a speech.
Talking about his friendship with Mr Drake, he said: “I’ve known Tony about 10 years, we met through local football, which he used to be heavily involved in.
“He always used to talk about wanting to run, and told him about my club and kept encouraging him to join.
“In September last year, he joined the club and started running. He was a big character and he always had a smile on his face.
“He was heavily involved in the club, and used to help run one of the groups — he was always wanting to help, and also improve his own running. He had a big effect on people.”
