A COLNE dad who was inspired to run a marathon after the premature birth of his son has raised more than £2,500 for charity.
Paul Brown (33), of Moorhead Street, completed the Great Langdale Marathon in four hours 19 minutes – 11 minutes under his estimated time, landing him in 52nd place out of 99 finishers and 125 entrants.
Sponsorship money and donations will be handed over to Burnley Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Hope Hospital, Salford.
Paul, who is married to Joanne (31), wanted to raise the money after his son, Daniel, now 10 months old, was born 11 weeks premature, weighing 2lbs 4oz. Daniel spent 12 weeks in intensive care before being allowed home in February. Now 13lb 5oz, Daniel remains on oxygen and has been diagnosed with chronic lung disease.
Paul plans on topping the amount up to £2,620, meaning for each mile he ran, £100 was raised.
He said: "It went a lot better than expected! Luckily, the weather was perfect for running on the day – overcast, dry, calm and not too warm. The commemorative T-shirt I was handed after crossing the line proclaimed the race to be 'the world's hardest road marathon'!
"Now I've been bitten by the endurance event bug, I'm hoping to have a go at the Yorkshire Three Peaks Fell Race next April, too."
To read more about Paul's story, visit
www.babydaniel.org.uk
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