HEADTEACHER Ian Bowyer is causing quite a stir in the fields close his Great Leighs home as he prepares for his latest London Marathon attempt.
Mr Bowyer, 37, will pay tribute to his sick daughter Evie by running this year's marathon dressed as her favourite cartoon character, Peppa Pig.
"I've done a training run out in the countryside wearing the suit," he explained. "A few farmers spotted me and thought they were seeing things!"
Taking part in his third marathon, Mr Bowyer will add to the £15,000 he has already raised for the Sick Children's Trust, a charity that has provided invaluable aid to his family in the past.
Evie, four, has Crouzons Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which causes the skull and facial bones to fuse together too early.
The trust provided Ian, wife Emma, and eldest daughter Lydia, with a house close to Great Ormond Street Hospital, while Evie received treatment there.
Mr Bowyer said: "Without the Sick Children's Trust, we wouldn't be able to remain together when Evie has surgery. It is self-funded, so it's imperative it gets support."
Evie has required constant support since birth and needed her first operation at just three-months-old.
Mr Bowyer said: "To know that the trust will get more exposure and that other families will get the help they need makes all the training worth it.
"When you're running, you think about all the people it will help."
Mr Bowyer, who ran last year dressed as Bananaman, took over as head teacher at Boreham Primary School earlier this week after five years as deputy head at Westlands Primary School in Chelmsford.
He said: "This will probably be my last marathon for a while, but because I'll be wearing the Peppa Pig outfit as a tribute to Evie it will be that little bit more special.
"Evie is quite used to seeing me in fancy dress and she thinks it's funny. My eldest daughter is the complete opposite though; she gets embarrassed by her dad dressing up."
