Marathon runner Nick Butter is in the middle of an extraordinary feat of endurance – running a total of 200 marathons in 100 days.
Nick, from Cranborne in Dorset, has taken on this challenge to launch his own charity in which tiny donations from many people will add up to help problems around the world.
But he also has time to remember other good causes, and he’ll have many thousands of miles in his shoes by the time he takes on the London Marathon for Round Table Children’s Wish in October.
Nick was introduced to our charity to help grant more handcrafted wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, by his friend Susie James who is also running for our charity in the London Marathon this year.
Endurance runner Nick is the only person in the world to run a marathon in every country – 196 of them. He completed 211 consecutive challenges around the world and the 196 figure was based on 193 identified as sovereign stages by the United Nations and three others not officially recognised, plus 15 more for ‘future-proofing’ his world record.
His current challenge began in mid-April when he left Cornwall on a mission to run 200 marathons around the coast.
This challenge, where he will aim to be the first person ever to run 100 double marathons back-to-back, is to raise funds for his own charity called The 196 Foundation, which aims to provide aid to people in need around the world via pledges from supporters of £1.96 per month.
Our Bournemouth-based charity, which is celebrating our 30th birthday, is thrilled that Nick also wants to help youngsters closer to home.
It means so much to us to have Nick signed up as one of our London Marathon runners this year.
We’re so grateful for his support – we couldn’t grant our wishes to children without people like him who raise so much money for us through their efforts. We are forever thankful for the energy and passion all our runners are dedicating to our charity.
We all wish Nick all the best for his 200 coastal marathons challenge and can’t wait to see him in action for Round Table Children’s Wish in October.
Nick said: “When I heard about Round Table Children’s Wish’s great work for children I knew I’d love to run for them. Although they help children all over the country they have a Dorset base and as I’m from Dorset too it’s a perfect fit.”
Over the last 30 years Round Table Children’s Wish has helped make wishes come true for many youngsters and their families all over the country.
We have a dedicated wish co-ordinator who takes care of every detail to ensure each child gets the wish of their dreams, whether it’s meeting a hero, going on holiday with their family, or a special gift like an iPad or computer game.
Places are still available in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon – contact [email protected]
Find out about Nick Butter’s Run Britain challenge at nickbutter.com/run-britain