Until the end, he did not let go of his insane challenge and went to the end of himself for a good cause. In the last hours of 2022, a Briton achieved the crazy goal he had set for the year: to raise a million pounds for the fight against cancer by running 365 marathons in 365 days.
Gary McKee, 53, ran his 365th marathon of the year, 15,330 km, on Saturday in winter rain, greeted by a small crowd of supporters not far from his home. “Cancer affects everyone, so it’s not just a West Cumbria problem (his British county), it’s a national cause, he told the BBC before setting off for his last 42 km this Saturday. We’re going to celebrate the day, have a good laugh on the course and I can’t wait to finish”.
But this father of three, who lives in Cleator Moor, in the North West of England, did not reach his financial goal until a few hours later when he reached the sum of one million pounds (1 .13 million euros), for the benefit of the Macmillan Cancer Support association. The counter climbed again on Sunday. “WOW” he tweeted Saturday night.
Already many outstanding sporting challenges to his credit
Gary McKee is not at his first challenge in favor of charities: he has already crossed Brazil by bike, climbed Kilimanjaro, rowed over distances equivalent to the English Channel. He had run 100 marathons in 100 days in 2017 then 110 in 110 days in 2021.
This year it has raised the bar considerably, requiring 22 pairs of sneakers. He was joined when he ran, often in the morning before working in the afternoon on a nuclear waste treatment site, by many anonymous people or even sportsmen like the English rugby coach Kevin Sinfield.
“The streets were full of people, it was raining, but everyone was clapping and shouting,” he welcomed the arrival of his 365th marathon of the year on the BBC. “I will always remember that.” He indicated to the specialized site runnersworld.com that he was not interested in a possible homologation of his feat as a record: “What matters are not the records but helping people”.