Angel entrepreneur Jerry Lockspeiser took up running when he was in his 50s

WHILE his day job may involve advising businesses on how to succeed and grow, Jerry Lockspeiser has a secret passion: running.

The Angel entrepreneur started running in his 50s to help improve his health, and is now a regular marathon runner who set his personal best time aged 65. He has turned his love of pulling sweaty trainers on and pounding the pavement into a book.

Mr Lockspeiser said: “There’s a lot of running books about the techniques of running, fitness of running. We wanted to do one more about the human side of why people run and the benefits they get and make it across the spectrum.

“There’s some stories in here, which are very, very tough. They’re all very short stories but they always end positively because all these people have come out of these awful experiences in a good way. And running has helped them do it.”

Co-authored with Andrew Roberts, Running Stories by Runners of All Ages, Speeds and Backgrounds is raising money for The Running Charity, which started life in a King’s Cross homeless shelter but now has running groups across the country, helping around 500 people each year escape homelessness and drug addiction as well as domestic violence and depression.

Included in the inspirational stories in the book is one from Seyfu Jamaal, a runner from Ethiopia who was trafficked to Britain before settling in Finsbury Park.

Mr Jamaal was referred to The Running Charity after experiencing a period of homelessness when he first arrived in the UK, and his exceptional running skills were immediately noticed: his first ever race saw him come second out of 10,000 competitors, while he is now the country’s second fastest runner under the age of 20.

Running Stories is available at Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops.