A FORMER boxer is lacing up his running shoes to raise funds for his Rotary Club's nominated charity of the year.

Northwich Weaver Valley Rotarian Mark Bebbington will be attempting to run the Cheshire Golden Ring canal route on Saturday, September 19 for Cheshire Young Carers.

Mark, who runs New Era Boxing, aims to complete the gruelling 97 mile route non-stop and in less than 24 hours. His ultra-distance run will encompass sections of the Trent and Mersey, the Macclesfield, the Peak Forest, the Ashton, the Rochdale and the Bridgewater Canals but he will have little opportunity to appreciate the waterway scenery.

There are just nine checkpoints along the way and Mark is allowing himself to take no more than a 40 minute break at each. He will start and end his sponsored run at The Old Broken Cross on the edge of Northwich.

Having retired from competitive boxing, he wanted to set himself a new challenge and took the decision to enter the Kennet and Avon Canal Race in 2019. He managed to complete 105 of the 145 mile total and, although disappointed not to finish, he says he gained valuable experience, which will come in handy for his second attempt.

He said: "I really hadn’t appreciated what a shock to the system running such a long distance would be – both physically and mentally – but it taught me so much about endurance races.

"My original plan was to run the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Race in August, which was cancelled at the end of July."

Undaunted, Mark decided to tackle the Cheshire Ring instead as a solo runner and although Mark will be the only runner to attempt the entire distance, he will have support runners along some of the sections and family, friends and fellow Rotarians will be on hand with equipment and supplies at each checkpoint to help him refresh, refuel and refocus.

Northwich Weaver Valley Rotary Club is Northwich's newest Rotary Club, having been officially chartered via Zoom on July 17 this year. It is part of Rotary in Northwich, and its chosen charity this year - Cheshire Young Carers - aims to help give a childhood to children aged 6-18 years who care for a family they live with.

Northwich Weaver Valley Rotary Club President, David Buxton said: "Mark has been training intensively for the last 12 weeks for this race and we’re in awe of his commitment to both his training and fundraising. "This year has been a challenging one for fundraising activity due to the pandemic but Mark’s been determined to make this happen for Cheshire Young Carers.

"We’ll be cheering him along every step of the way."

All money raised by Mark’s herculean effort will be donated by Northwich Weaver Valley Rotary Club to Cheshire Young Carers.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Mark can do so by sending a Paypal payment to weavervalleyrotary@gmail.co.uk