THE SPIRIT OF RUNNING
IN MEMORY OF TIM PROUDMAN (W 1979)
A year ago we reported on two Winderian friends, Mark Adams (W 1974-1979) and Tim Proudman (W 1979) who had developed a love of running and had completed marathons on every continent except the Antarctic.
In November 2021, Tim, a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon living in Australia, had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Having undergone surgery the prognosis was that the tumour was extremely aggressive and the outlook poor.
However, this did not deter him and on 12th March 2023 Tim and Mark attempted the Antarctic Marathon, with Tim completing it in 6 hours, 5 minutes, and achieving his lifetime goal of running on all continents. A tremendous achievement and a victory for the sport of running itself.
On 22nd February 2024 Tim finally succumbed to his illness.
As I wrote a year ago, I remember Tim from my schooldays as a kind and generous man. He once went out of his way to congratulate me on my reading in Chapel when I was still relatively new to the School. He was in the sixth form and might even have been a School Prefect. It meant much at the time, and I have never forgotten it.
In later life that kindness and humanity continued in abundance with his voluntary work providing reconstructive surgery in Bhutan.
Tim was an extraordinary individual who had a lifelong love of Sedbergh and of running. We hold him high in our thoughts and with the greatest of respect, while we offer our sincere condolences to his family and friends. In particular to Mark Adams who shared so many marathons with Tim across the world.
Jan van der Velde
You can read a eulogy written by Tim’s colleague Richard Harries here:
