Gainsborough dad's epic challenge for epilepsy charity

A Gainsborough dad is taking on eight of the toughest road races in the UK in a marathon bid to raise funds for a charity which helped his daughter.

Lance Corporal Warren Beardall is midway through his six months on the road, which began in Boston in April and will end in Clowne, Derbyshire, in November.

As if the miles are not enough, Warren is running with a 20kilogam military bergan rucksack on his back.

He said: “I already had a reasonable level of fitness because of work, but I’ve been training in my own time. However all these miles are starting to take their toll on my knees.”

Warren’s most recent run was the Halifax marathon, but he says nothing compares to the Huddersfield one—its tough peaks known as “the ultimate running challenge”.

The father-of-two is being driven on by a determination to raise funds for Epilepsy Sucks UK, a small charity run by parents of children with epilepsy.

The organisation provides anti-suffocation pillows to people at risk of seizures, such as Warren’s 16-year-old daughter Ellie.

He said: “She had epilepsy symptoms when she was younger. We hoped it had gone, but she started having seizures again last year.”

Warren said: “It’s really stressful, and frightening, you have to make so many changes. But, as a teenager, she needs her freedom, so we carry on and hope for the best.”

Each pillow costs £50, and Warren is aiming to raise £1,000 by the end of his last race to help families like his.

To find out more and donate, visit www.justgiving.com/madmarathons.