Hill runner warms up for Ring Of Fire

AFife man has set his sights on running the equivalent of 13 marathons in six days to raise money for an end-oflife children’s charity.

Keen amateur hill runner C ra i g Hy n d , 39, from Dunfermline, has set himself the gruelling target in aid of CHAS.

He intends to complete three separate endurance races, taking place in consecutive months, the last of which is the infamous Ring Of Fire in Wales.

The Ironman event involves a brutal, energysapping 135-mile coastal ultra-marathon around the Isle of Anglesey.

The environmental engineer for the oil and gas industr y aims to raise £5,400 for CHAS.

That is the amount needed to pay for the endof-life care and subsequent bereavement counselling for a family losing a child to illness.

Craig said he was moved to set up the fundraiser after learning about the work CHAS does to support stricken families and on becoming a parent himself.

He said: “Becoming a parent made me realise how difficult and heartbreaking losing your child must be, and after reading about what the charity does to help families, I just thought I had to do something to support the wonderful work its staff do.

“Becoming a father to my son, Callan, 18 months ago made me realise I wanted to do my bit to support parents facing that agony, so came up with the somewhat mad idea of completing three endurance races.”

Hill running has been a hobby for a number of years and Craig is now training to build up his stamina levels ahead of taking on the challenges in 2021.

He admits, now he’s signed up to do the events, the fear factor has increased.

“I’m under no illusion that it’s going to be tough and have a long way to go to fully prepare myself, but I’m staying focused on the family that will hopefully find a little bit of peace from the money I raise for CHAS,” he said.

“My fiancée, Louise, has been great and allows me the time to go training, which usually involves me running for as long as eight hours at a time to build up my mental and physical strength and give me a chance of reaching my goal.”

A fundraising page has already collected £650 for the cause.

Craig is now appealing to the public to dig deep and donate to support CHAS and its work with families facing the most harrowing situations.

To make a donation, go to justgiving.com/ fundraising/craig-hynd1.

CHARITY RUN: Craig Hynd is building up his fitness levels for the endurance challenge. Picture by Gareth Jennings.

Craig Hynd will run the equivalent of 13 marathons.