By Graham Thomas

Welsh jockey Alan Johns will saddle up for the Loch Ness Marathon on Sunday – less than 48 hours after he hopes to ride a monster winner at Worcester.

Johns will catch a flight from Bristol – and a fast car – to the Scottish Highlands in order to raise funds for Latch, the Welsh children’s cancer charity.

His motivation for his first crack at the 26-mile distance is to boost the £30,000-worth of funds that have already been raised for the charity by Welsh trainer Christian Williams and his family.

We count ourselves as very lucky to Sponsor Alan Johns – a quality jockey & a quality character.

It’s great to see him getting the exposure he deserves https://t.co/kxHUpyMhL5

— DragonBet (@DragonBetWales) April 16, 2023

Johns won’t be the only runner at Loch Ness more used to getting a ride than having to set the pace himself. Fellow jockey Conor Ring will also be running alongside Johns.

“Conor is a serious runner – he looks like he’s carved from marble – so he may go a bit faster than me,” adds Johns.

Johns says the pair of them decided to pick Loch Ness on a whim.

“I looked at a list of marathons and this one looked exciting and a bit different. We’ve all heard of Loch Ness from when we were kids – it looks absolutely beautiful and hopefully we might also catch sight of Nessie while we’re there!

“I’d love everyone who wants to support Betsy and the family to consider a donation.”

Details of Alan Johns’ marathon fundraising for LATCH, can be found here:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/alan-johns-1694333336339

Pick your jockey https://t.co/25mxNYJ6XJ

— Alan Johns (@alanjohnsy) September 22, 2023