PAUL PUTS IN THE MILES FOR A CAUSE CLOSE TO HOME

A senior land manager has run the equivalent of Land’s End to John O’Groats for a cause that’s close to home.

Paul Darwin has raised more than £1,600 for the Alzheimer’s Society through the virtual challenge which saw him complete the 874 real miles over the course of 12 months.

Sponsors include family, friends and colleagues at Cheshire-based Elan Homes.

“A close member of my family has been cruelly suffering from the effects of Alzheimer’s for some time now and they have unfortunately had to go into full-time care recently. Because of this, I try to raise money for the charity when I can and have previously taken on challenges such as doing an Olympic distance triathlon to raise funds for this worthy cause. Knowing who I was raising money for and all of the kind sponsorship I had received really helped keep me motivated to get to the finish,” Paul, who lives in Liverpool, said.

“Dementia is becoming more prevalent in society but thankfully there’s also more awareness now – unfortunately almost everyone has family members, friends or someone they know who may have been diagnosed with a form of dementia. It’s a horrible illness to see people going through – especially those close to you. Alzheimer’s Society are transforming the landscape of dementia to try and find a cure and do wonderful work to support people who have been diagnosed and their families.”

During the challenge, Paul would typically run three or four miles a day but if he’d been busy with work or family and couldn’t put in the miles, he’d make up for it with a 10-mile weekend run.

“I signed up online in September 2020 thinking it would be a good way to raise money for the charity whilst also keeping me active if there was another lockdown,” Paul explained.

“I play a lot of sport anyway but had never run as much as this challenge required. In previous years I may have done around 50 miles in a year just running so to do 874 was a big step up.”

Paul’s second child was born in February and he took some time out from his running schedule, but soon made up the miles. His two young children even joined him on the last leg of the virtual challenge.

“There were a lot of early morning and late-night runs but I have really felt the benefit physically and mentally. I’ve always been an advocate of exercise being good for you and really enjoyed this experience taking in all of the seasons and all-weather conditions. Thanks so much to everyone for their support in raising an amazing amount of money for a very worthy cause that means so much to me.”

While Paul has completed the year-long challenge, there’s still time to sponsor him. For details see https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-darwin5lejog.

Caption – Elan Homes senior land manager Paul Darwin ran the equivalent of Land’s End to John O’Groats for a cause that’s close to home