A RHYL man with severe brain damage will “run home” at next year’s London Marathon.

Alexander Treloar, who moved to Rhyl from London in 200, will take on the 26-mile challenge on Sunday, April 28 2019 on behalf of brain injury charity Headway.

Alexander, 31, has been living with the condition since he was a young boy which effects his neural and mental growth.

While Alexander’s physical growth has been unaffected, he will be running the race with his sister and ultra runner - a type of endurance running of longer distance marathons – Victoria Owens, who has been helping him train lamppost to lamppost since June.

Victoria said: “Because of his condition, Alexander doesn’t comprehend distance so we’ve been encouraging him by telling him we’ll run to the next lamppost, or from “here” to “there”, where we might stop and give him a bag of crisps. He likes to eat when he’s training.

“As we’re originally from London, I keep telling him that we’re going to run back home which makes him really excited.”

Part of Alexander’s condition also means that he has difficulty expressing himself, so to help him communicate his intentions Victoria made him a billboard declaring his decision, and she has also produced a video of his journey so far.

Alexander first got a taste for running after moving in with Victoria and her family, which includes children Sophie,11, and Ozzy, 8, who have been keeping him active and getting him marathon fit.

Victoria added: “Because I’m a runner anyway, since Alexander moved in with me in Rhyl his life has completely changed. I have two young children, who also love running and I make sure to keep him active.

“Every other day we go hiking or running, and every week we go to the Conwy park Run at the Llandudno Junction nature reserve.

“They’ve been great, he’s made lots of friends who high five him along the route.”

When he arrives for the race next year, Alexander will be guided by Victoria.

Victoria said: “It was a really long process to gain permission for me to run with Alexander, as that’s usually reserved for partially sighted people.

“That’s partly because it’s not often people with severe brain damage take part in something like this.

“The charity is thrilled as well that he’s running for them, usually it’s a family member running on behalf of a loved one, so this is a very big thing.”

Alexander has currently raised £375 of his £1850 goal. To donate visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=AlexanderTreloar&pageUrl=1.

To view the video of Alexander’s journey, head to rhyljournal.co.uk.