Retired officer runs special marathon in honour of murdered Worthing policeman

Former Met Police Sergeant Simon Stevens was set to take part in the virtual London Marathon on October 4, but re-routed his run to take in landmarks associated with Sgt Ratana around London.

The pair had first met when Sgt Ratana started his career at Charing Cross Police Station in 1992. Twenty-eight years later, Sgt Ratana was shot and killed by a detained suspect in Croydon Custody Centre on September 25.

Determined to make Sgt Ratana proud, 54-year-old Simon contacted two charities close to his friend's heart - Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and the Wooden Spoon children's charity.

Simon said: “I worked with Matt at his first police station at Charing Cross and was on his team for many years. Matt was a true legend in all ways and a typical Kiwi who was an outstanding rugby player. I don't need to go on because what you hear and read about the man is under-estimated he was one of life’s greats.

"I’ve run many marathons before, over the years, and was planning on taking part in this unusual virtual event, just to tick it off the list. But when I heard the devastating news about Matt, I knew I needed to do something and realised this would be my way of saying ‘thanks, mate, you’re my buddy and let’s get something good out of this tragedy.’ RIP Matt Ratana, your last shift is over, you are dismissed with thanks.”

Simon's marathon started from Charing Cross in Agar Street and took in New Zealand House (Sgt Ratana was originally from New Zealand), Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, 10 Downing Street, the Palace of Westminster and Croydon Custody Centre, where Sgt Ratana sadly lost his life.

He then ran back to Charing Cross, via the Windmill pub on Clapham Common for a half-pint in honour of his friend.

He was joined for the first half of his run by Sgt Ratana's colleague Mel Gilmour, who was also in the team in the '90s and worked alongside him.

One of the charities which Matt supported was Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). Every week, 12 apparently fit and healthy young people (aged 35 and under) die from a previously undiagnosed heart condition. In 80% of cases, there will have been no signs or symptoms, which is why CRY believes proactive cardiac screening is so vitally important. Its pioneering screening programme is overseen by world-leading sports cardiologist, Professor Sanjay Sharma, who is also Medical Director of the Virgin Money London Marathon – and to date the programme has tested well over 220,000 young people since it was established in 1995.

Dr Steven Cox, Chief Executive of CRY, says: “For the past 25 years we have been inspired by everyone who has signed-up to run the London Marathon on behalf of CRY and are always so overwhelmed by the generosity of their friends, family and colleagues who support them.

“This year, like so many other events and occasions, the London Marathon looked very different. But our incredible supporters didn’t let us down and it was so encouraging – and humbling – to see so many of them as determined as ever to complete the challenge they had originally set out to complete back in April.

“As such, many of those runners had become well known to our fundraising team. We’d been supporting them in the lead up to the big event, getting to know them — and the very poignant reasons as to why they’d chosen to run for CRY – and backing them every step of the way as they strived to raise awareness and funds to help us reduce the incidence of young sudden cardiac death.

“Simon contacted us 48 hours before Sunday’s virtual event and we were all so moved when we became aware of the reason why he was supporting CRY. The amazing funds he’s raised in such a short time will help to save young lives – something we know Matt was passionate about.

“Simon, on behalf of everyone at CRY, I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ for your incredible support in memory of Matt."