A Glen Vine man has donated ?500 to St John Ambulance Isle of Man after being sponsored to run the Liverpool Marathon. Roy Crellin realised the value of the organisation, which relies entirely on donations, fund-raising and the income it receives from commercial training, when he attended a first aid course. The 39-year-old, a transport supervisor with Isle of Man Transport, raised almost double the sum in total and is donating the rest to Hospice Isle of Man in memory of a late colleague. He completed the marathon, his third in a year, in 4 hours 28 minutes and 2 seconds. Roy said of the race: ‘Two bus driver colleagues, Dave Sims and Dave Hodgson, said they were doing it and asked me to join in. I didn’t really want to run another marathon so close to my last one in April. But then I thought ‘hey, why not?’ ‘We lost a dear colleague, bus driver Robbie Oates, who passed away in Hospice, so I saw first-hand what a wonderful job Hospice does and decided to run the marathon in memory of Robbie. ‘I was on a St John Ambulance first aid at work course and told Phil Bennett, the instructor, that I was running the Liverpool Marathon, He asked whether I would consider running it for St John Ambulance. I thought – why not raise money for them, too, as they are a cracking outfit.’ Roy is married to Diane and they have daughters Jasmine, nine, and Molly, 5. The family live in Bollan Way. He and the girls are members of the Western Athletics Club and he helps out with children’s winter indoor training and summer outdoor league club nights, both held at Queen Elizabeth II High School. Roy ran the Dublin Marathon in October 2010 in a time of 4hrs 10mins 45secs and added just a second to his time when he tackled the London Marathon in April 2011. He said: ‘My first marathon was a great day. Just to be out there and run more than 26 miles for the first time: The feeling will stay with me for a long time. A pal and I raised much-needed funds for the Hyperbaric Chamber and Western Athletics Club. ENDS