Hemel man to run 'Gardenathon' for children's charity to help plug lockdown shortfall

Jason Hawkridge, who lives in Bennett's End, has measured the boundary of his garden to be 60 metres, meaning he must complete 703 laps to equal the distance of a marathon, which is 26.2 miles.

Jason had the idea for his 'Gardenathon' after the London Marathon, originally set to take place this Sunday, 26 April, was cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown.

To make up the shortfall in donations – the London Marathon itself raised £66.4m last year – the UK's mass participation events created 'The 2.6 Challenge' and Jason jumped at the chance to take part.

The idea is that members of the public can take on any fundraising challenge involving the numbers two and six.

Jason, who is a keen runner and a member of Dacorum & Tring AC Road Runners running club, is doing the challenge to raise money for A Smile For A Child.

The charity helps disabled children participate in sport by providing grants to buy sports equipment or provide specialist coaching. This can be as little as £20 for swimming lessons up to many thousands for motorised wheelchairs.

Jason said: “The furthest I have run in one go this year is 5 miles, so this will be a tough challenge. I would like to raise as much money as possible but the minimum is £260 in keeping with the 2.6 - but obviously I'm more than happy to get more!”

Jason should indeed be very happy - at the time of writing the amount raised was £2,049.

You can sponsor Jason's incredible challenge here.

To find out more about A Smile For A Child visit: www.asmileforachild.org