South Shields dad runs London Marathon in his garden for 2.6 challenge

Andrew Dorrian - who runs for South Shields Harriers - had been training for months ahead of the 2020 London Marathon.

Instead, on the day he should have been pounding the pavements, Andrew raised hundreds of pounds for charity running the marathon from the safety of his own home.

The 40th anniversary of the London Marathon was postponed until October 4 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Sunday, April 26, the day it was due to take place, Andrew ran the equivalent of the 26.2 miles in his garden in Harton Lane, South Shields, marking out a 70 metre course and completing over 600 laps in just under seven hours.

The 32-year-old - who first ran the London Marathon in 2015 - says it was the hardest race he has ever completed.

“This was by far harder than any other run I have done,” said the dad-of-one.

“It’s quite a small garden so I knew it would be even more of a challenge.

“It was so frustrating with all the twists and turns, I couldn’t get up any speed at all.”

He added: “People came to support me from the roadside during the day and my family was there which what kept me going.”

Over the weekend more than £4.6 million was raised for UK charities after race organisers launched the 2.6 challenge in lieu of the London Marathon – with thousands of people completing unusual challenges based around the numbers 26 or 2.6.

Andrew said: “The London Marathon is a really special race.

“I had had done all the training and so I thought instead of wasting it I would set myself a new challenge.

“I wanted to do it in a space where I wasn’t going to be out and about, to make sure I was sticking to the government guidelines.”

His efforts have so far raised more than £950 for the British Red Cross and NHS Charities Together.

“The response has been absolutely phenomenal,” he added.

“I only decided to do it on Wednesday – I can’t believe how generous people have been.”

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