A PAIR of lifelong friends who have been inseparable since they started school are lacing up their trainers and preparing for their next challenge.

Adam Hampson and Karl Andrade first met as pupils at Monkwick Infant School in Colchester and stayed friends as they progressed through education together, both going on to study at Thomas, Lord Audley School and Colchester Institute, where they both completed degrees in sports management.

The pair, both 33, now run a multi-sports coaching company, which they founded together in 2017.

Gazette: Lifelong pals - Adam and Karl have been friends since primary school and are now running the London Marathon togetherLifelong pals - Adam and Karl have been friends since primary school and are now running the London Marathon together (Image: Adam Hampson)

Their business, Essex Professional Coaching, works with 40 primary schools across Essex and Suffolk to engage 5,000 children in a new activity every week.

Those school partnerships inspired the friends next fundraising challenge – the London Marathon.

Karl explained: “We found out in October we’d been successful in the marathon ballot and started looking at charities.

“We found Starlight and felt straight away that their values aligned with the values of our business.”

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Starlight, the national charity for children’s play in healthcare, helps seriously ill children in hospital by providing distraction boxes, events and experiences.

The charity was founded in 1986 after its co-founder Emma Samms fundraised to help her young friend, who had a brain tumour, visit Disneyland.

Today, it reaches over 1.2 million children in almost 500 hospitals across the country.

Adam added: “We are passionate about engaging children through play and we decided we want to do our bit to support the great work Starlight do.”

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The dads, who have two young girls themselves, have hit the ground running with their fundraising efforts, with over £1,000 of generous donations already being received.

Adam and Karl have both committed to a training regime in preparation for the marathon on April 23, but Karl admits that his “body has taken a little while to recover” from a recent 20 mile run.

A casino themed fundraising event for their friends and family is also on the cards, which will help the fundraising friends to get closer to their target of £4,000.

Donations to support Adam and Karl on their marathon journey can be made online at bit.ly/3lEcv8h.