An Aberdeen man has challenged himself to run 2,021 kilometres this year to raise money for two north-east charities.
Thomas McRobbie, 29, has committed to the task in order to raise funds for Charlie House and CLAN.
“After such a rubbish year, I wanted to do something to raise money for two charities that are important to me,” he said.
“Throughout the pandemic I’ve enjoyed running and getting out for some fresh air.
“It’s also a big mental health thing for me too and going for a run really clears my head after a not-so-good day at work.
“But after a while I started to think, ‘I’m doing all this running, but it’s not really for anything’, I didn’t have a goal, so that’s how the idea of the challenge came about.
“It’s been a great opportunity to use my running for something good.”
Racking up the miles
Thomas, who works as a facilities coordinator for a specialist equipment firm in Aberdeen, was used to running 5km at a time but has used the challenge to start ramping up his distances.
“Typically I used to do 5km and sometimes anything up to 10km,” he said.
“I’d never done more than 10km before this challenge but now I’ve managed to do a couple of half marathons.
“I’m hoping to build up my daily distances and reach a total of 1,000 kilometres by the end of May.
“I’m currently sitting at 827km.”
Support from friends and family means that Thomas has already surpassed his original target of raising £500.
“In hindsight maybe I set my target a bit low,” he said. “A couple of big donations really bumped it up.
“Now I’m aiming to hit £1,000.
“With how miserable this last year has been, it’s really nice to raise some money and put a smile on people’s faces again.”
Thomas will be splitting the cash between two local charities – Charlie House and CLAN Cancer Support.
CLAN will use the money to support people affected by cancer in the north-east.
And Charlie House will put the cash towards its Big Built Appeal pot, a campaign to build a specialist support centre for children with life-limiting conditions.
Jenna Simpson, fundraising coordinator for Charlie House, said: “We are delighted to see Thomas taking on this incredible challenge in aid of Charlie House.
“Now more than ever, we need people to take part in fundraising so we can continue our work and to support babies, children and young people and their families.
“We would like to thank Thomas for his efforts so far and wish him good luck as he tackles the rest of the distance over the remainder of the year.”
Donate to Thomas McRobbie’s fundraiser page here.