A determined dad braved the elements and raised cash for charity by running an incredible seven marathons in just seven days.

Owen Kessack, from Ashford, chose to take on the daunting task after this year's Manchester Marathon was cancelled.

He said: "I have run the London Marathon previously and was all set to run in Manchester this year, but obviously that was called off because of the pandemic.

"I'm raising money for Parkinson's UK, because my Dad has been fighting it after his diagnosis a few years ago."

Mr Kessack, who lives in the Conningbrook Lakes area with his wife and baby daughter, decided to up the ante after considering his options.

"I was originally going to try and raise £500 running the length of a marathon in the area, but I decided to challenge myself," he explained.

"I upped my goal to £1,000, and took on the seven in seven challenge.

"I did a different route every day, from Canterbury to Ashford, from Dungeness to Folkestone, and so on and so forth.

"The fourth run was definitely the hardest, my dad dropped me off in Dungeness and I must have made it, maybe not even 10km, and my legs just hit the proverbial wall.

"The first marathon, I ran just under four and a half hours, then five and a half and six and a half for the next two, but for that one it was over seven.

"It was something about having already done three, and knowing I had another three to do after I finished that one... but I managed to push through!

"It wasn't easy, and our ten month old is at the teething stage which was fun to come home to!

"I think I was exceptionally grumpy the whole week so I'm very grateful to my family for putting up with me!"

Thankfully, Mr Kessack's effort weren't in vain.

Having originally set a goal of £1,000, the 28-year-old associate solicitor has raised almost £2,500 on his JustGiving page.

He said: "It's been very humbling, I've had people I don't even know donate, it's just been phenomenal.

"I've got around £400 in offline donations as well so we're nearing the £3,000 overall.

"I know especially during these hard times that people don't have as much to donate so it honestly means even more".

The JustGiving page will remain active for the rest of the week, and you can donate to it here.

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