Scarborough Councillor Neil Heritage raises over £2,000 for Saint Catherine's running 100km in 10 days

Inspired by the endeavors of veteran Captain Tom Moore, Neil set himself the challenge of running 100km in 10 consecutive days by running 10km a day, which he completed on Sunday May 24.

Neil said: "Going into this challenge I had limited fitness of odd bike rides and walks with my partner, I certainly am not a runner.

"I left the Armed forces, Green Howard’s regiment in 2005, played local football for a few years until I snapped my cruciate and medial ligaments in my knee.

"This is when my fitness went downhill, so it was certainly a big challenge to set myself.

"Some of the runs were very uncomfortable, painful and very tired legs, but seeing the donations and messages of support and knowing it was for a great cause kept me going."

Halfway through his challenge Neil set himself an additional challenge of trying to run 10km in under one hour and set his best time of 1:02:45 on his final run.

He said: "I pushed a bit harder knowing I didn’t have to run the following day which for a 17 stone, 38-year-old, is respectable, I just couldn’t get my tired legs to go any faster.

"So I announced that on Saturday 30 May I am going to head back out for another 10km, fresh legged, and try and do it in under an hour just for a personal sense of achievement."

Neil set himself the fundraising target of £3,280 - 0.01% of the £32.8million raised by Captain Moore.

He has so far raised £2,360 and donations can still be made via his Just Giving page here.

Neil added: "I would like to thank everyone that has donated to this great Hospice who rely on donations for patient care at a cost of £5.5 million a year.

"With the cancellation of many fundraising activities due to the current pandemic, the charity sectors' funding will also be reduced.

"I wanted to do something for a local charity in Saint Catherine’s who do a fantastic job for many of our loved ones in the latter stages of their lives and go that extra mile to make their final days as comfortable as possible.

"If you would like to make a donation, no matter how small, it all adds up and really does make a difference you can visit my Just Giving page where you can read more of my story and see the progression on my runs."

Susan Stephenson, communications and marketing manager for Saint Catherine's, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Neil for all his efforts throughout this challenge.

"He has been out there in some really hot weather to achieve his 100km goal and has raised an incredible amount of money, which will make a real difference to patients and their loved ones.”

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