‘I’ll walk to the finish,’ vows injured Ben Blowes as he raises more than £120,000 for charity Tom's Trust by completing a marathon every day in December

Ben Blowes, who set out to run 31 consecutive marathons this month to raise funds for a charity which supports children with brain tumours, and their families, was forced to pull out of his 29th run with injury on Tuesday, but vowed he would walk the last two.

The 47-year-old father-of-two from Gazeley has already quadrupled the fund-raising target he set with the charity Tom’s Trust for his 31 Stars effort, and has so far raised more than £120,000.

But as he started his 29th consecutive marathon from Newmarket’s July Course, Ben said he could barely put weight on his foot. “We set off in the hope the pain would ease but it didn’t,” he said.

He was running with his friend Alison Barnes, running her first marathon and who he had coached in return for her helping with the administration of his charity effort. Twelve miles into the run Ben was in such pain he was advised to go straight to hospital.

At West Suffolk Hospital an x-ray revealed severe ligament damage to his ankle and inflammation of his shin. “I had pushed my body to the limit over the last 29 days and it could take no more,” he said. But he was back in Newmarket in time to cheer Alison as she finished the marathon they had started together.

“It dawned on me 31 Stars is now about something much more than we originally planned,” said Ben. “It’s about the people and the community. The people who stand out in the cold to applaud a runner go past in five seconds, everyone who gave up their precious time over Christmas to support me on cycles, the messages I received when sat in A and E with my head in my hands. It’s about people helping people. In a year that has been incredibly tough for everyone, human nature shines through in our community.

“I will complete the last two marathons but I will be walking them,” said Ben. “The record I wanted to set has gone now but I don’t care, I gave it my all and we raised a lot of money that will help a lot of people who need it.”

Debs Whiteley, who co-founded the charity with her husband Andrew in 2011 after their only son, Tom, died as the result of a brain tumour when he was only nine, said: “Ben is a remarkable human being and the support he has received has been incredible.”

Yesterday Ben was hoping to walk his 30th marathon at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile racecourse.

To support Ben’s effort go to justgiving.com/campaign/31Stars

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