Mother and son race to every town in Norfolk charity fundraiser
A mother and son have run and cycled nearly a thousand miles to raise money for East Anglia's Children's Hospices.
Last updated 22nd Nov 2020
Duo, Kate and Toby Jones, raised over £1,500 during their mammoth challenge.
It was Toby who came up with the idea back in March when the UK first went into lockdown.
He's returned from university in Exeter and was studying online and had a part-time job, but still wanted to take on something else.
On his one day off a week he would cycle to three or four towns in a day and proud mum, Kate, decided to join him.
The pair decided to make it into a competition and raise money for charity at the same time.
Toby cycled to all 30 towns across Norfolk, while Kate ran the same distance each week around their home village, the pair clocking up a total of 940 miles over two and a half months.
Needing to run 50 to 60 miles a week to keep up with Toby, Kate said: "As I was back at school teaching Year Six, who returned for the final half-term, I had to run every day after school.
"This ranged from three miles up to 10 miles.
"It was relentless and was definitely more than I realised when I merrily said I'd run the same distance!
"I had to run whatever the weather and for the achievement I did make sure I'd a round 500 miles by the end of August."
Kate told us it was the children in her class that kept her going: "They would check how many miles I'd done, they'd convert it from kilometres into miles.
"And then they were doing a running tally for me between Toby and myself - I kind of had to say I'd done another six miles pop it on, so it kept me going as well."
They decided to raise money for EACH as they are based close to Quidenham, where EACH had a hospice until last November when it moved to a purpose-builty facility.
The family has a history of supporting the charity too, having taken part in various sponsored cycle rides and with Toby's nan having been a voluneer at EACH's Wymondham shop for many years.
EACH has recently forecast losses of £1.7m in funding over the next 12 months due to the pandemic, almost a third of the total it needs to support families across the region.
That's before they take into consideration the additional losses of £100,000 a week in retail income during this second lockdown.