Hospitals set to benefit after Gareth completes tough task

Gareth Sanders will be wearing the race number 100 for a good reason. He will have completed 100 miles just to get to the event.

He may only live in Tangmere but Gareth, 22, will start his pre-race preparations 100 hours before the 10.30am event starts on May 16, to raise funds for the hospitals which saved his life.

He intends to run a mile in each of those hours after he became the first person in the country to survive a rare illness thanks to doctors at St Richard's Hospital and King's College Hospital.

Gareth said: "I am continuing to raise funds for the hospitals as without their time, dedication, knowledge and ability, I would not be in a position to raise money on their behalf.

"So far, I have raised 1,600. This time I am planning to take part in the 100-mile challenge which involves running a mile every hour for 100 hours and then finishing off with the Bognor Prom 10k."

Gareth was taken ill 18 months ago as only the third person seen at King's College Hospital in London with a recorded case of Haemophagocytic Lymphohistio-cytosis, which affects the liver and spleen. He survived the illness and was back to full health within a year.

His running challenge will start at 6am on May 12 at Northgate car park in Chichester. He will run from the car park to Market Cross, along East Street to the Observer office before returning along the same route.

He will do this for the first 94 miles during four days before running the six miles to West Park for the start of Bognor Prom 10k, sponsored by the Observer.

"I have been preparing for the mile challenge since the end of January," said Gareth.

"I have spoken to national ultra-marathon runners and people who have done a similar thing in the past.

"They have all advised me to train up to a marathon level as I will have time between each mile to recover and I won't be on my feet the whole time.

"I decided to do the Bognor Prom 10k because my mum and aunt ran in it last year as the first fundraiser we did for the hospitals.

"Therefore, I thought it would be nice to try to tie it in this year."

People can join Gareth to run a mile or two with him in Chichester in return for at least 20 sponsorship.

More details from www.bldl.org