Challenge for Newmarket's Joel as he steps out in father’s footsteps

The nine-year-old son of endurance athlete Ben Blowes looks set to follow in his father’s footsteps after completing a virtual marathon as part of a UK-wide running challenge.

Joel Blowes, a pupil at Moulton Primary School, clocked up 26 miles in six days, running three miles on days one and four, four miles on the second and fifth days and six miles on days three and six.

For the final lap, on May 30, Joel ran with his father who was completing a 100-mile challenge, his mother Louise and seven-year-old brother Spencer.

“It was amazing for a nine-year-old and he says he’s going to share his medal with his mum because she ran with him every day,” said Ben, who found fame by running the London Marathon with a tumble drier on his back and who also raised thousands of pounds for injured Newmarket schoolgirl Evelina Kravale by running 100 miles in 24 hours.

The event week was hosted by popular Hertfordshire-based racing group Centurion Running, which specialises in staging ultra long-distance challenges. Runners aimed to complete a number of distances either spread over the week or as a one-off run.

Other local runners taking part were Raechal Rees (5k), Richard Hardy and Sally Johnston (half-marathon), Stacie Campbell (marathon) and Ben Blowes, Darren Gore, Paul Holley and Robert Marshall (100 miles). Robert also recorded his 100th marathon during the Centurion week.

Throughout May, another local long-distance runner, Soham driving instructor Martyn Taylor, took part in an accumulator challenge by running one mile on May 1, two miles on May 2 and so on, succcessfully completing all 30 days and clocking up 197 miles for the challenge week and 499 miles in the course of the month. Also in May, Rob Evans, Henry Morrison, Linda Baxter, Neil Smith and Kirsty Thompson each ran 310k

Local runners are now looking towards June 26 when they will run various distances to raise money for Lisa Bell’s East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices fund. Ben has chosen to run a marathon on what will be his 48th birthday. “I want to see what sort of a time I can do for my age,” he said. To donate, go to justgiving/fundraising/lisa-bell27