Young British showjumper prepares to run marathon for popular equestrian charity

With just under two weeks to go, Olli Fletcher, is set to run the London Marathon on Sunday 2 October in aid of equestrian charity, World Horse Welfare

Next month, 19-year-old Olli Fletcher, son of showjumping legends Tina and Graham Fletcher, will take on the challenge of running the London Marathon in aid of equestrian charity, World Horse Welfare. Taking place on Sunday 2 October and spanning over 26 miles, this will be a huge test for the young rider, who competes up to five-star level and is currently ranked 34 in the World under-25 rankings. This June, he notched up his first Senior Nations Cup team win for Great Britain, riding Hello William at Gorla Minore in Italy.

“It’s a long way but it’s for a good cause,” says Oxfordshire-based Olli. “I always do try and keep fit and the prep is going well.

“I run most days but obviously it’s harder when you’re at a show. I try and run five days a week and fit short runs and interval training around the horses.”

Keeping busy seems to be the secret to success for Olli, and he admits that he’s got a jam-packed schedule in the lead-up to the big day – and afterwards, too.

“I’ll be at Keysoe on the Saturday before the Marathon,” he explains, “then there’ll be a few days to recover before I’m back up and running for HOYS!”

This isn’t the first time that Olli has swapped his riding boots for trainers in a bid to raise money for his favoured charity, either.

“I started running regularly during the first lockdown in the afternoons,” Olli continued.

In fact, during the lockdown that took place in January 2021, he put his unforeseen spare time to good use and trained for a half-marathon that February, which he duly completed in a time of 1:37:44, raising thousands of pounds for World Horse Welfare in the process.

Olli isn’t the only high-profile rider to have taken on the challenge of the London Marathon in recent years while supporting charities close to the hearts of equestrian up and down the country. Just last year, Horse&Rider magazine followed the progress of dressage rider, Alice Oppenheimer, who tackled the 26 miles in aid of working horse and donkey welfare charity, Brooke.

If you’d like to support Olli Fletcher, click here to donate to his JustGiving