Amol was just 10 when he lost his mother to cancer. She passed away at ellenor hospice 20 years ago this July, and this summer Amol will be honouring her memory by running the length of England, over 13 days, to raise money for the charity which remains important to him and his family today.
He aims to cover 891km in just 13 days and raise a staggering £40,000.
The mammoth run begins on July 15 at Marshall Meadows Bay, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and will take Amol across to Carlisle, then down to Land’s End. If all goes to plan, he will reach his destination on August 27th, which means a gruelling 69km every day. Amol has comfortably run four marathons -- his most recent was Newport, finishing in 2 hours 58 minutes -- but he admits his run for ellenor surpasses any other physical challenge he has ever set himself. Amol’s fitness levels have progressed over the years, but knows every day will be a struggle, he hopes to inspire and motivate others to do what they can to make a difference and raise awareness of a smaller charity. Accompanying Amol each day on the gruelling run will be friend and physiotherapist, the physios name is Rolandas Mizgeris, owner of ‘Sports Care 4 U’. Rolandas will be driving the back-up vehicle and treating Amol’s aches and pains along the way. Other friends and runners will be joining Amol for parts of his challenge to help keep his spirits up.
The 30-year-old said: “The plan is to start each day at about 5am and be finished by 7pm. My legs and body will struggle and I’m sure it’s going to be painful from a few days in, but the memory of my Mum, and all the donations received will push me to keep going each day. On the last day I will aim to run only 40km as I’d like to have a big celebration at the end”.
Amol’s mother was just 49 when she died at what was then the Lions Hospice in Northfleet. He said: “It’s important knowing that she passed away peacefully and comfortably. I am doing this run in her memory, but also in memory of all the people ellenor have helped in their final days. I feel like I need to do this for my own closure, and to help me overcome what happened all those years ago – to raise a huge amount of money, I needed to complete a huge challenge.”