Man quits job to run length of UK for charity
Jack Ward/PA WireA delivery driver has quit his job to run the length of the UK in a month for a cause close to his heart.
Jack Ward, 24, from Warwickshire, was inspired by "Hardest Geezer", also known as Russ Cook, who ran the 8,000 km (5,000 mile) length of Africa in April 2024.
Mr Ward, who lives in Atherstone, began his journey, which is about 874 miles, on 26 February at John O'Groats in Caithness.
He is raising money for Rett UK, after his friend's four year-old daughter, Poppy, was diagnosed with a neurological condition called Rett syndrome.
It is a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development, resulting in severe mental and physical disability, and is almost exclusively seen in girls.
"I started running in lockdown and I kind of got the bug for it, so over the last few years I have been doing different marathons in Paris and Amsterdam," he said.
Jack Ward/PA Wire"I also watched the Hardest Geezer and Ashley Cain and others who have done challenges like this and and thought, why not give it a go myself."
Mr Ward has been averaging 26 miles a day, and has mainly been camping, but freshens up at hotels if donations allow that.
"People I've never met have been offering to pay for hotels so I can recover faster and it is so kind as they don't have to do that," he said.
"I just take every day as it comes - if I feel I'm okay and don't need a hotel, I'll camp, but if when I'm camping I wake up and feel I really need a shower, I'll try and go to [a hotel], as using wipes all the time really makes you appreciate having a shower."
Mr Ward has been documenting his journey on TikTok and Instagram, and has raised more than £2,400 so far.
"I've had so many people driving past when I'm not feeling so great, beeping their horns, waving, people messaging me saying: 'When you run through here you can stay with me and we'll get you food'," he said.
Mr Ward hopes to finish his mammoth run at Land's End, Cornwall, on 29 March.
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