87 miles for 87 years: The Salisbury man who loves a charity challenge
Brian Ford has nearly hit his fundraising target
A supporter and volunteer of the Salisbury hospice charity is hoping to raise £870 for a mammoth trek he took on for his birthday.
To mark his 87th year on earth, he challenged himself to walk 87 miles in the month leading up to his special day and completed every mile.
Brian Ford wanted to give back to a hospice charity after his daughter was cared for in one before she sadly died.
"What they do is so, so wonderful and I just wanted to make sure the hospice is able to carrying on doing what they're doing."
He didn't walk any of the miles indoors, he took to walking a mixture of country and street paths wherever and whenever he could.
"When I set myself the target I was worried that I would set one that too hard and then another that was too easy so 87 miles seemed a reasonable figure to go for over 30 days because there would be things that happen in that time and I might not be able to walk on a certain day.
"As it happened I was right and I was sick for two days but apart from that it meant that I had to walk and average of 6 miles a day in the 30 days.
"I worked out all my distances in a 2 foot nine inch pace.
"And I managed to finish a day early and then I set myself and extra challenge of eight miles and 70 furlongs on birthday!"
Brian loves a challenge!
Being no stranger to a challenge or raising funds Brian took on a wing walk with a group.
He regularly participates in the Midnight Walk event and also volunteers for Salisbury Hospice Charity.
"I did a parachute jump, raising money for the stroke association after my brother suffered two very bad strokes. I am lucky because I am in good health and all these challenges help me keep fit.
You can donate to the Salisbury Hospice Charity for Brian Ford's challenge here.