A father is taking on two charity marathons in the space of two weeks - in a football kit.

Daniel Newman, from Folkestone, will be travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to run the Boston Marathon on April 15.

But he will have to recover from the 26 mile race quickly, after being accepted for the London Marathon just days later on April 28.

And the P&0 Ferries worker is even taking advantage of a treadmill to train for his challenge on cross-Channel runs.

The 32-year-old hopes to set a Guinness World Record for ‘the fastest marathon completed in a football kit’ in the British capital. His attire will include studded boots, shin pads and carrying a football.

Mr Newman said: "I thought running one marathon would be too easy and wouldn't get the spark, so I'm doing two 13 days apart, then to make it that bit more difficult attempting to set a new Guinness World Record!"

He has chosen to support the Encephalitis Society in memory of his children's great-grandmother, Nanny Viv. The first anniversary of her death will be two days before the London race.

Encephalitis is an uncommon but serious condition in which the brain becomes inflamed, requiring urgent hospital treatment. Anyone can be affected but the very young and very old are most at risk.

Mr Newman, of Burrow Road, used to run as a child at school but never took it very seriously in his 20s.

But at a work Christmas party in 2015, he signed up for the 2016 Brighton marathon.

That September, he joined the Hawkinge Hurricanes and in April 2018, he took on the Manchester marathon and finished in 2:54:21, five minutes faster than his goal time. He said: "I had done it. I had qualified for both the Boston and London marathons and I was going to achieve a life long dream."

But as he left home for Manchester, Viv went into hospital with what was then an expected water infection. She was put in an induced coma due to the encephalitis diagnosis and died on April 26.

Mr Newman said: "I've since carried on my training, half of which is done on a treadmill in the middle of the English Channel as I work one week on, one week off on P&O Ferries."

To sponsor Mr Newman, visit his JustGiving page.