Wigan runner completes virtual London Marathon

Matt Clegg has used running to get himself fit for turning 40 out of shape and has raced 26 miles while raising money for charity.

Standisher Matt was joined by work colleague Matt Aston, from Birmingham, in completing the challenge which has earnt them a marathon finishers medal.

They were one of thousands of people who completed the race by following their own routes in locations across the country.

Their route saw the pair run through Standish to Leyland - Worden Park, past their Gorilla Glue company office and then into Chorley, Astley Park, Duxbury and Worthington Lakes. They then ran back through Standish up the long hill home.

It was in March 2019 when Matt’s adventure started, realising he was 39 and carrying more weight and not as healthy as he wanted to be. A work colleague suggested he should join a group of a dozen doing the Chorley 10k for charity.

And Matt has gone from there, going onto complete that challenge and runnng in ten countries.

Although he wasn’t able to run the London Marthon in April, he kept himself in shape and went onto complete the challenge on Sunday (October 4), raising more than £3,000 for Hospice UK, while colleague Matt raised more than £2,000 for the MS Society.

He said: “It was the toughest thing I ever did but we raised over £5500 between us and still rising as we both intend to do the London Marathon as and when it’s back next October.

"You’d think we’d have learned our lesson from breaking ourselves over four hours."