Trade limbers up for London Marathon 2017

HarperCollins’ Paul Erdpresser and Alice Herbert are among book trade figures running in Sunday’s Virgin London Marathon (23rd April), to raise money for charity.

Herbert, publicity manager at HarperCollins imprint 4th Estate, and Erdpresser, divisional sales director, will be running to raise money for the publisher's partner charity  Whizz-Kids, which provides disabled children with the essential wheelchairs and other mobility equipment.

“Running the London marathon has been an ambition of mine for quite a while now and I decided to bite the bullet and get on with it in 2017", Herbert said. "I am currently feeling a mixture of apprehension, excitement and determination. We heard the stories of two beneficiaries of Whizz-Kidz when they visited the News Building last year. What really came across was how much their lives were transformed and improved by the work of Whizz-Kidz, enabling them to have an independence and mobility they never had before. It was this that made me want to run for them.”

Also tackling the 26-mile course this year will be The Bookseller’s own account manager Emma Hare. She will be raising money for the charity Mind.

Four runners - Alan Lorimer, Richard Howells, Simon Skinner, and Lorien Innes - will we running the marathon to raise money for The Book Trade Charity (BTBS), which provides support for people from the trade who find themselves in difficulty, both with grants, and subsidised housing.

Other runners include Sheil Land’s Ian Drury, SPCK c.e.o. Sam Richardson and Pavilion commissioning editor Stephanie Milner.