Postie Mark will deliver himself over 500 miles

MARK PENFOLD has been a postman for 15 years, so he’s used to pounding the streets.

Royal Mail is currently celebrating 500 years of the postal service with a series of events and Mark thought he would add to it with a special challenge.

One of the oldest postal routes in the UK is the London to Edinburgh journey.

It’s a distance of approximately 500 miles so, in this 500th year of the postal service, 50-year-old Mark decided he was going to walk the route for The Lily Foundation, a charity very close to his heart.

The organisation funds research into mitochondrial disease, as well as raising awareness and giving support to families affected by the lifelimiting condition.

It’s a genetic illness that prevents cells from producing enough energy to survive and can affect any part of the body.

It has no known cure and Mark’s grandson, 18-month-old Frankie, suffers from it.

Mark, from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, was cheered on by colleagues, family and friends as he began his trek from Edinburgh’s East Delivery Office nine days ago.

He’s being followed all the way by a Royal Mail branded vehicle with helpers from the Communications Workers Union dishing out his supplies.

That will include 100 bananas, 125 litres of water, two pairs of trainers, five tubes of Vaseline, 50 pairs of socks, 30 bags of peanuts, 10 tubes of deep heat and 30 packets of jelly babies.

All funds raised by Mark will be matched, up to a maximum of £20,000, by Royal Mail.

He aims to walk around 20 miles a day – a fair distance more than his usual route of 12 miles – to cross the finish line at Tower Bridge in London on June 18.

His route takes him through East Linton, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Thirsk, York, Whitely, Doncaster, Carlton-on-Trent, Grantham, Stamford, Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, Buntingford and Waltham Abbey.

Mark says thinking of Frankie will spur him on towards the finishing line.

And if he has any energy left by the time he crosses it, he then has an invite to attend Royal Mail’s 500-year celebrations at Guild Hall in London.

But that might depend on how many blisters are on his poor feet!