Widnes man runs 52 miles in one day and raises thousands for charity

Ellis Hackett completed a 36 mile walk for charity last year and has since caught ‘the bug’ for fundraising challenges.

The 30-year-old, who lives in Widnes, decided he wanted to complete an even bigger challenge this year.

“This year I was thinking of things I could do that would maybe challenge me a bit more and do something for charity again,” he said.

“Then a friend of mine, Vic, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis not long after giving birth to her son, Thomas.

“I personally didn’t know much about MS. I didn’t realise how common it was until I found out a bit more.”

Vic with her partner, Kev, and son, Thomas (Image: Supplied)

Inspired by Vic, Ellis then decided to use set himself the challenge of running 50 miles in one day to raise money for MS Society.

“[Vic] shed a few tears saying thank you and really appreciated it,” he said.

“When you’re a friend there’s not really much you can do when someone gets that sort of stuff.

“Obviously, you can send a text but doing something like a challenge and raising money was just my way of showing support really.”

The 30-year-old spent two months planning his route from Blackpool to Widnes, and a further four to five months training for the mammoth challenge.

It took just under 12 hours to complete the run, which ended up being more than 52 miles.

“I found it easier than I had anticipated but that’s only because of the amount of effort I’d put into the training, but also mentally I was getting myself prepared for it to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, which it was,” he said.

“It took a toll on my knee joints, especially on the last 10 miles, but I had people joining me for the last 15 miles and that made a massive difference mentally.

“Coming down the last 100 yards and seeing people stood there was a massive boost, knowing people were at the finish line really did help.”

Ellis celebrated at the pub with friends after he completed the mammoth challenge (Image: Supplied)

Ellis initially set out to raise £1,000, but when the donations kept flooding in, he increased his goal to £2,000.

But even that goal was an underestimation of the amount of support Ellis would go on to receive from friends and family, and he raised a staggering £4,531 for MS Society.

“I spent so long building myself up for it and when I saw all the messages and donations coming through, I thought it was too late to pull out, so they certainly got me through,” he said.

“I was massively overjoyed, I was absolutely made up, I didn’t realise I knew that many people to be honest.

“I know how times are tough, especially at the moment, so any donation was massive to me, and it really meant a lot, it spurred me on.”