Anthony boosts cancer charity with gruelling ultra marathon

He was taking part in The Wall – one of the nation’s most challenging ultra marathons – in aid of the charity, Children With Cancer UK.

Starting out at Carlisle Castle, competitors had to follow the path of Hadrian’s Wall across the spectacular countryside of the Pennines.

The finish line was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne shortly after the field had crossed the Millennium Bridge.

Anthony got to the end in an impressive 18 hours and 35 minutes in the early hours of Sunday morning.

He told the Melton Times: “It was a day I will never forget, taking part with 1,000 other competitors who all had there own reasons and motivations for taking on this huge challenge, but my main motivation was to raise as much money as possible for my charity.

“The route along Hadrian's Wall was amazing but really really tough with plenty of hills to contend with.

"We got a lot of fantastic support along the way from all the locals who came out to support the runners and the race, which we were very grateful for because that kept us going when times got really tough for us, especially later on when it went dark.”

Anthony said he had prepared for the 70-mile Rat Race event for the past year and it was just as tough as he feared it would be.

He added: “I've been training hard for this challenge for the past 12 months and I was so glad to finally complete it and cross the finish line in Newcastle.

“It was an awesome event and experience but I don't think that I could have done it without the support from my partner, Nicky Durrance, who was equally amazing, supporting me along the route and making sure that I was okay until the early hours of the morning.

“And I would like to thank everyone who dug deep and sponsored me, which I'm extremely grateful for as we managed to raise lots of money for such a worthy cause.”

Click HERE to sponsor money to Anthony’s fundraising page.