Sidmouth musician to march London Marathon
French horn player Richard from Woolbrook joins university band to play continuously during London Marathon to raise money for Sense
SIDMOUTH man, Richard Millington, takes on the challenge of a lifetime next Sunday, April 17, when he marches the London Marathon while playing in a brass band.
Richard, 21, from Woolbrook, is a member of the Huddersfield University Marathon Band, along with 18 other students and their lecturer.
The band aims to set a world record by completing the famous race while playing continuously on their instruments – which range from piccolos to trombones.
The students aim to raise more than �50,000 for Sense, the national deafblind charity. Visit www.justgiving.com/R-Millington.
Second year music student, Richard, who plays French horn, said: “Music is such an important sensory aspect and we wanted to use our experience as a band to support others who can’t always participate in it.”
He will hold a free concert in Sidmouth Parish Church this Sunday (April 10) from 4pm, to get support for Sense.
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Deafblind people show incredible bravery facing day-to-day challenges so we wanted to challenge ourselves to support them.
“It’s definitely going to be tough – we’ll be giving our lungs a real work-out as well as our legs. But we couldn’t ask for a bigger stage or audience anywhere in the world!”
The 20-piece band have undertaken a gruelling training regime that includes eight-hour rehearsals and marching drill practice.
They are stockpiling a collection of popular marching band anthems to play along the course.
Richard said: “We’re going for lots of motivational tunes to spur us on. Hopefully the support crowd and other runners will appreciate the music, though I’m sure the faster ones will all be long gone anyway!
“I’m looking forward to crossing the finish line to the tune of Final Countdown!”
