Northamptonshire maestro turns 60 this week and runs Belfast Marathon for musical youth charity

A Northamptonshire musical maestro is set to run a marathon just five days after turning 60.

Stephen Bell is the Belfast-born musical director of the award-winning Northampton Male Choir, conductor of the Market Harborough Orchestra, the resident conductor of the UK’s finest Youth Brass Band, Youth Brass 2000 and associate conductor for the Championship GUS Band.

Stephen turned 60 on April 25 and just five days later he will be running the Belfast Marathon on April 30 to raise money for charity.

Stephen will be running the Belfast Marathon some 41 years after he first ran this marathon and has a bold ambition to beat his 1982 time - some 41 years later.

Speaking of this outrageous goal, Stephen said: “Well, at the rip age of 19 I was pretty fit but I hadn’t actually done much training for it at the time.

"This time around I’ve been training six days a week since January and putting in some serious miles each week to get to the level of fitness I am at the moment.”

Stephen’s marathon efforts are focused on raising money for Youth Brass 2000 as part of their fundraising efforts to send the band to the European Youth Brass Band finals in Malmo, Sweden in May 2023.

Talking of Youth Brass, Stephen said: “The young musicians in this band are superb.

"They won the UK Championship in March for the tenth year in a row and now we can represent the UK at a European Level and bring home an international title - we’re working extremely hard to impress the judges.”

To make a contribution to the marathon fundraising follow the link below.

Stephen is aiming to beat his 1982 time of four hours 17 minutes and 24 seconds.

To sponsor Stephen go to https://gofund.me/8430ae4b.