Two brothers get ready to run 100km to raise vital funds for Parkview Special School

Andrew, who works at the local school, together with his brother Josh, will be running 500 laps of the school’s 200m track on Saturday June 20.

"It is all in aid of the school, and if we get round it’ll also be a Guinness World Records, under the title ‘Fastest 100km ultra marathon run by a pair of male siblings’ - no siblings have currently done it,” explained Josh.

"Andrew’s been working at Parkview for a while now, and it’s really through him that the idea came about.

"Seeing the place day to day, the work the staff put in, what it means for the kids and their families, it just made us want to do something to give back. 100km felt like a big enough number to get people’s attention and hopefully get a few donations in for the school.”

Josh and Andrew have been busy training but neither of them are strangers to running.

"Training wise, we’ve been training since January for it,” continued Josh.

"My background is in triathlons, so I’m used to long hours but split across swimming, the bike and running.

"This one’s meant a proper shift toward just running, getting the legs used to that kind of mileage, especially on a small loop like a 200m track.

"Andrew’s been doing the same on his end. We ran 50km a few weeks back round the loop as our last long practice run, so we just need to double it on Saturday.”

The brothers had hoped to raise £500 for the school but they have already passed that mark before the big day so they are now aiming to raise as much money as possible and they are hoping local people will continue to support them.

Donations can be made online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/muga500

The main school building at Parkview opened in 2006 and currently has approximately 220 pupils with severe learning difficulties aged from three to 19.

With funding becoming more and more vital for schools, the brothers know that whatever they manage to raise will be put to very good use.