England cricket star Ben Stokes has donated more than £19,000 to a pair of friends who completed a Nottinghamashire parkrun in just flip flops and pants.
Jonathan Lamley, of Bingham , and Mike Macdonald, from Leicestershire, had agreed if England won an Ashes test match at Headingley in August they would take on the challenge at Rushcliffe parkrun.
England needed 72 runs to beat Australia when last man Jack Leach joined Stokes at the crease. Stokes' 135 not out took England to an unexpected victory.
The friends stuck to their word and ran the 5km on Saturday, December 7, in aid of Alzheimer's Research UK .
After raising more than £2,000, Stokes congratulated the pair on Twitter and went on to set his followers a challenge, with him donating one pound for every re-tweet he received within half an hour. This raised an additional £19,127.
Mr Macdonald said: "We started off thinking we would get £300 and it has gone to 20-odd thousand. It is just madness but it is fantastic as well and humbling. It is for a fantastic charity."
In his donation to the pair, Stokes said: "Well done you two, great to speak this morning (on a TV interview). Just holding up my word like you two did."
Lucy Squance, director of supporter-led fundraising at Alzheimer’s Research UK, which is also the official charity partner of parkrun UK, said: "We are delighted to have received such generous support from English cricketing hero Ben Stokes.
"Jonathan and Mike’s brave and unconventional fundraising effort, combined with Ben’s incredible donation, will help us to make life-changing dementia research breakthroughs possible."
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