By Rachael Grealish

Cumbria’s Marathon Man is going to complete a charity run in memory of his late friend and a little boy who has been diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.

Fresh from his latest challenge, which had Gary McKee take on the 171-mile Grand to Grand Ultra, the 53-year-old will be running another marathon, on Saturday, November 25, to raise money for the family of 11-year-old Charlie Reid to help with travelling and hotel costs while Charlie gets treatment.

In a social media post, Gary explained he had planned the marathon to celebrate the life of Bill Arnott who was part of Gary’s support team while he took on several challenges – including running 365 marathons in 365 days – after he passed away in August this year.

However, Gary then discovered a friend’s son, Charlie, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour which would mean he would need to travel to undertake treatment. Gary hopes to raise money to make this time and travelling easier for Charlie’s family.

The Marathon Man originally set out with a target of £500 on the GoFundMe page, however, he has already received 161% of his target as the money sits at £805, at the time of writing.

For the run Gary will be running one of his original 365 marathon routes and he won’t be going solo – the charity champion has asked for as many people as can to join him.

In his post, he said: “Please, please, please support this event by joining me to either run whatever distance you can or to enjoy an Autumn walk on the very beautiful cycle path. I’m asking that all participants make a donation.

“Halfway point will be Kirkland school where there will be tea/coffee and cakes so if you can’t run or walk please join us for a cuppa and a crack and make a donation.”