A man from Astley will be running 48 miles in 48 hours for a Salford based domestic abuse charity.
Iain Burt, 38 from Astley, has been raising money for the Salford Women’s Aid after he was concerned to see the rise in calls to domestic abuse hotlines during the crisis.
Iain will be running in his garage on a treadmill that was given to him by his sister.
He will start his running next week on Friday 1 May and is expected to finish the following Sunday.
He plans on doing four miles every four hours for 48 hours which will see him running at midnight, as well as four in the morning.
The format is part of a 48 hour running challenge created by former Navy SEAL and Ultra-marathon runner David Goggins.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Iain says he the story regarding domestic abuse hotlines seeing a rise in calls ‘touched’ him so much that he felt compelled to help.
Iain said: “The story kept coming up, I’ve been furloughed and I’m on my phone a lot more and it just stood out to me.
“There’s nothing personal in my decision, I’ve never experienced any of it myself, but it just touched me,
“Its not just women involved in those figures its children and men too, everyone has to stay at home and for these people it's not a safe place.
“Its easy for people to say, ‘Just leave’ but that's poor advice in itself, but now with the lockdown there’s nowhere to go.”
He says he has been training for the run during his one hour of exercise a day and chose to raise money for a local charity due to his familial connections to Salford.
He got in touch with the charity last week and they have been supporting him since.
Iain originally set out to raise £500 for the charity but its popularity has seen him raise the goal to £1,500.
The support is still pouring in for Iain with Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett donating to his cause and sending a message of support.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Iain said: “Things like the London Marathon are off and people can’t do the fundraising that they used to do,
“Charities like the Salford Women’s Aid are not getting money, but they’re also working extra hard to deal with the phone calls, so I hope the money I raise can help them with that.”
Iain’s Gofundme page can be found here.
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