A man from Royton who is running more than 100 miles in memory of his late mum and to raise funds for charity is closing in on the finish line with just the Manchester and London marathons left.
Patrick Harwood embarked on his mission to complete a series of races, including marathons and half marathons, over the course of the past year after he suddenly lost his mum, Moira.
Moira died from a rare cardiovascular disorder the night before her birthday in April 2022.
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Patrick had been planning to pick up his two young sons, Alfie and Bobby, from school to take them to visit their grandma for her 58th birthday.
Instead, the 35-year-old had to break the heartbreaking news of her death.
Patrick and his sister, Katherine, 31, had to grapple with the sudden loss, only learning later on that she had an undiagnosed case of giant cell myocarditis.
There is no way of knowing what caused the condition and over the course of the past 12 months, Patrick has been determined to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation which researches and raises awareness of the disorder.
Speaking to The Oldham Times last year, the father said: “When things get tough, I think of the reason why I’m doing it which is to raise money as much money as possible, so no one else has to go through what we went through.
“You hear about other families going through it but it’s only when it’s you that you realise the impact it has on a family.
“Me and my wife got married six months after it happened, and my mum wasn’t at the wedding and had been really looking for to it, and my sister has bought her first house which she will never get to see or my little boys growing up.
"I hope to stop at least one family going through something like this.
“Hopefully they can do more research into heart and cardiovascular diseases and see how they can combat them long term.”
Moira was well known and loved within the community, particularly among families due to her work at schools in the borough.
She was a manager of the St. Aidan and Oswald Out of School Care Club in the mid-90s and completed 22 years of service at Newman RC College in Chadderton in 2000 where she was passionate about mental health.
Stewart, Patrick's father, was also invited to Newman RC College for his 70th birthday to celebrate the official opening of the Harwood Suite, a mental health and wellbeing room that has been named after Moira.
St. Aidan and Oswald’s Roman Catholic School has also named one of their end-of-year trophies in her honour.
In the past 12 months, Patrick has completed the Manchester Marathon, the Great Manchester Run, Tatton Park 10k, Tough Mudder North West, Great North Run, Rochdale 10k, Tatton Park 10k and Great North West Half Marathon.
At the time of writing, he has raised a staggering £2,280 on GoFundMe towards his mission - and he has just two marathons left, Manchester (April 14) and London (April 21).
He said his last race will also be "bittersweet", as the London leg happens to fall on what would have been his mum's 60th birthday.
Reflecting on his journey so far, Patrick said: "The events have been tough, but enjoyable.
"My favourite so far have probably been the doubleheader back in September, where I did Tough Mudder on the Saturday and the Great North Run on the Sunday.
"It has been a real long slog and the training has been tough, particularly on those dark February nights when it is bouncing down and freezing, and I have to complete 16-mile training runs.
"My emotions are all over the place at the moment with it - and the irony that the London Marathon falls on what would have been my mum’s 60th birthday and the anniversary of her passing makes it bittersweet.
"London Marathon is something I have wanted to do for years, but I didn’t for one minute think it would be circumstances like this which meant I got a place."
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