An RAF veteran who overcame a horrendous leg injury triumphed at the London Landmarks Half Marathon earlier this month, raising hundreds of pounds for the RAF Association.
Forty-four-year-old Ashley Lloyd initially joined the RAF in 2018 with aspirations of being an air traffic controller. However, a horrific injury while playing football for station put that dream on hold.
“I broke my tibia and fibula which meant I was delayed in training. But I also had complications after surgery, which meant I had to have five operations in eight days,” said Ashley, who lives in Burgess Hill in West Sussex.
After months of gruelling rehabilitation, the father-of-three was able to return to his air traffic control training.
Ashley passed all elements of the course bar one, and despite going to a review panel, he was not able to attempt the course again. “By that time, I was absolutely mentally drained with everything that I had already gone through physically with the injury and trying to get back to full fitness. So I decided to leave.”
Ashley, who now works for DHL as a duty manager in the baggage operations at Gatwick Airport, made the bold decision to take on the London Landmarks Half Marathon, a challenging 13-mile run through central London, passing iconic landmarks along the way.
“I had never run that far before – the most I’d ever done was 10km. Throughout the training, I was worried that my leg that I had the injury on might flare up, but luckily I had no issues whatsoever.”
Ashley completed the half marathon in two hours 15 minutes, raising over £600 for the Association.
He was keen to raise money for a military charity to increase awareness of the support that’s on offer to the RAF community, including serving personnel, veterans and their families.
“I felt I was physically fit enough to be able to do something to help raise the awareness and the importance of the Association, because you don’t realise that you may need it until something bad happens.”
Ashley Lloyd running the London Half Marathon
