A father-of-three from Stroud will be taking on the ABP Newport Marathon just two years after having open heart surgery.
Gareth Ponsford, 45, said it will be his first road marathon and he’s looking forward to seeing what he’s capable of as he continues to get his fitness back post-op.
Gareth, who works as an operations manager for engineering company AVTPUMP, has always been fit and healthy. A keen rugby player, he took up running in 2013 to recover from a leg break and began taking part in many trail marathons and ultra marathons.
However, in October 2021, he decided to give himself a couple of months off from running to let his body recover from the mileage he was putting it through.
Gareth said: “My body hurt from playing rugby and running but I just put it down to getting older. I decided to give myself three months off, but when I went to train again everything became really hard and I couldn’t work out why.
“It was post-pandemic, so I thought maybe I had long covid or was suffering with a chest infection so tried to train through it. No matter what I did I kept getting chest pains. I’d run for a mile and they’d start, then I’d rest for a minute and feel OK so start running again but the pain came back and got progressively worse.”
Gareth kept pushing through, convincing himself he was fine. It wasn’t until December 2023 that his wife Carmel managed to convince him to see his doctor.
He had a scan at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and came back at the start of January 2024.
Gareth said: “I thought I was going in for a routine echocardiogram and ultrasound but they didn’t let me back out of hospital. They found my aortic valve had a birth defect and had started to collapse over the years.
“My doctor told me I had two options – either leave the hospital and risk the possibility of dropping dead or stay in hospital and have a heart operation. It was a no brainer.”
Gareth spent the next four weeks in hospital while he had more tests and was then moved to the Bristol Heart Institute.
“While I was quite critical, I was stable,” said Gareth.
“I hadn’t had a heart attack as far as I knew. Those chest pains on my runs could have been mini heart attacks, but I couldn’t prove it either way.”
Gareth was given the option of either having his valve replaced with a pig’s heart valve or a titanium valve.
He said: “My biggest concern was being able to run afterwards. With a biological valve the harder you work it the shorter it lasts, whereas the titanium valve will outlast you. It made sense for me to have the titanium valve, although I was told I’d also need to take blood thinners for life.”
At the end of January 2024 Gareth had his life saving surgery, which lasted between eight and 12 hours. He then spent the next three days in intensive care to recover.
He said: “Pain medication doesn’t agree with me, so the pain was horrendous. I felt like I’d been stabbed in the chest with a hot poker. I was poked and prodded every four hours for observation until doctors were satisfied I was well enough to go home.”
During the next six weeks Gareth worked on upping his walking from five minutes a day, to 10 then 15. He started to feel better and in March he started the Couch to 5K programme. In September 2024 he ran his first half marathon since the surgery.
Gareth said: “I was so proud of what I achieved during that time period. I decided to not worry about times and as long as I was enjoying my runs that’s all that mattered.
“What’s crazy is that when I sit down now after exercising I can hear my heart ticking. My wife said she can hear it if it’s quiet and people ask if they can listen to my chest.”
For Gareth’s next challenge he’ll be taking on the ABP Newport Marathon on Sunday 19 April.
He said: “I’ve never done a road marathon in Wales before. I’m not fast but I can recover quickly and now I’m just focussing on my training. I’m so grateful to the NHS and the brilliant care I received from them. It’s been a whirlwind two years but I’m now feeling fitter than I have done in the past 10 years so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Matt Newman, Chief Executive at event organisers Run 4 Wales, added: “Gareth’s journey back to the start line after having major heart surgery is incredibly inspiring. His courage and determination embodies what the ABP Newport Marathon is about and is a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human body.
“We’re incredibly proud to deliver events that bring people together and give runners the opportunity to see just what they’re capable of.”
