Coronavirus: Visually impaired Newtownabbey man to run marathon in garden for NI Scrubs

Pete Lock had been due to take part in the Belfast City Marathon on May 3, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Now the kindhearted Doagh Road resident has decided to stage ‘Pete’s Not The Belfast City Marathon Garden Challenge’ on Saturday, May 2 to raise funds for NI Scrubs.

Pete’s wife Sharon is also a keen runner and will be running the equivalent of what would have been her relay leg at the flagship Bank Holiday weekend event.

Commenting ahead of the fundraising event, Pete said: “I’ll be starting around 9am and I am hoping to finish the approximate 7,604 loops of my Doagh Road front garden by 4pm. My wife Sharon will be starting at same time to complete her 4.5 miles, which would have been the distance of her leg of the city marathon.

“I had originally signed up for Belfast Marathon, but as this was cancelled, I didn’t want my training since December to go to waste.

“Due to us both being severe sight impaired, social distancing has made it impossible for us to go out running with our club Monkstown Spartans, as we both need guide-runners, so we’ve both been running round the front garden since lockdown.

“I decided to set the challenge last weekend after seeing a couple of other fundraising events for NI Scrubs on social media. This network of sewing groups have been volunteering their time over the past few weeks, tirelessly making scrubs for NHS staff and other key workers. The funds raised will help buy materials to support their efforts in this current pandemic.

“We would welcome a friendly wave or toot from a passing car, but please respect social distancing.”

An online fundraising page has been set up to collect dontations. Almost £400 has been raised at the time of publication.

If you would like to make a donation, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/peteforniscrubs?utm_id=119

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