Peel runner to take on seven marathons in a week

A Peel man who is poised to take on seven marathons in seven days, to raise money for charity, has said completing the challenge will be "emotional".

Over the coming week, Geoff Rice will be running a marathon each day, until Friday, racking up an overall distance of 183 miles (294.5km) and a total elevation of 35,000 feet (10,668 metres).

The 57-year-old gardener, who is raising funds for the RNLI, will begin each individual marathon run daily at 13:00 BST near Fenella Beach, running five laps of Peel Hill and ending the race at Peel Lifeboat station.

Geoff came up with the idea two years ago, but said the initial plan to run just one race "was not much of a challenge" for him.

Completing seven marathons in seven days "had a ring to it", he said.

He chose Peel Hill as that was is where he frequently trains.

A veteran runner who has been running for 15 years, Geoff has completed 15 marathons and a further ten ultra-marathons.

Although this is his first time completing a series of marathons back-to-back, he remains confident, both physically and mentally, that he can do it, but said it was important "to get the recovery in".

"It is not a race," he commented. "It is always the next one that is going to be the hardest.

"It's just the case of getting it done and going onto the next one."

Geoff said he wanted to raise money for the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) to "put something back into the community".

"Everyone knows what a good job they do, and when you are in Peel all the time and you see them going out, you just think they are heroes," he said.

His son previously volunteered for the charity as a crew member, and the RNLI's recent rescue of a friend's son had made the fundraising even "more special" to him, Geoff said.

He said his enjoyment of running came down to the training, discipline, comradery and mental health benefits.

"It gets you out, helps you switch off and takes your mind off things."

Having his own running groups gives him "a lot of satisfaction", he added, witnessing the "excitement" members of the group derive from their achievements.

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